Linux, Linux, everywhere!

Every year there are articles published about this being the "Year of Linux". I read many of them and I realized that there is no specific "Year of Linux". I also wrote my own article arguing that every year is the year of Linux and as the Linux market share grows, one day we will realize that Linux is everywhere.

Not long ago, I started to realize that Linux is already creeping up on me from all sides. People who have never heard of Linux were raving about it. They were showing me their latest gadgets and telling me how cool they were. After several months of random people going on about their gadgets I did realize that Linux is everywhere and it came upon us from an unusual source. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about Android which is based on the Linux kernel. A lot of people purchasing their latest phones do not know what Linux is or that Android is based on the Linux kernel. However, they are definitely happy with their latest hardware and the many features Android has. Moreover, Android phones are selling in large quantities and are surpassing Blackberry and iPhone sales. This is amazing and the trend seems to be continuing with excellent and solid phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S2. The Galaxy S2 is a gorgeous phone and it is even better than the iPhone 4. Apple will definitely have to come up with many cool new features for the iPhone 5 to be able to compete with the Android Smartphones.

One great thing about Android is that it is not limited to cellphones only. Android is being used on netbooks and tablets which have become very popular in the last few years. Because many users who use Android on their cellphones are familiar with the operating system, they have no problems buying netbooks and tablets which run Android as well. The cellphone industry was a great way to introduce people to the Android OS and then place the software on other gadgets as well.

Walking through a Big Box computer store today you will notice how many devices are running Android as well as the massive push in advertising. This is really neat to see and I am surprised that Android is so popular among everyday users who are not tech savvy. These people are the majority of consumers and are snapping up cellphones, netbooks and tablets running Android in large numbers.

Linux is definitely everywhere and continues to grow into markets that were dominated by other operating systems before. The server market is already being dominated by Linux. Cell phones, netbooks and tablets are starting to be dominated by Android and the last frontier is the desktop in which it has limited reach so far. However, one day we might just see Linux slowly creep up on us on the desktop as well.

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