[Ubuntu-be] Why Linux Doesn't Spread - the Curse of Being Free

[Mattias Campe]

Jan Claeys schreef:
> Op donderdag 21-02-2008 om 20:44 uur [tijdzone +0100], schreef Mattias
> Campe:
>   
>> Jan Claeys schreef: 
>>     
>>> So, then why doesn't Apple have more than 3% marketshare on the PC
>>> market while they probably spend 50x more per unit sold than Microsoft
>>> on marketing...?  ;)
>>>
>>> "Linux" is actually growing faster than Mac OS X, and might surpass it
>>> within 1-3 years in most countries.
>>>       
>>   
>> Jan, what are your sources for the last sentence? I know the following
>> sources, but these ones don't seem to give arguments for your
>> statement (maybe because they are too global).
>>
>> http://www.thecounter.com > Global Stats  (currently Linux: 1% vs Mac
>> 4%)
>> http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=9 (currently Linux:
>> 0,67% vs Mac 7,57% and the trend seems to be in favor of Mac)
>>
>> Could it be possible to clarify 'growing faster... in
>> desktop/mobile/server/all' and 'most countries'=?
>>
>> BTW Some time ago somebody posted the results of some Belgian survey
>> somewhere where we could read that Linux is the most popular Linux
>> distribution in Belgium, but I can't seem to find that message any
>> more. Does somebody has any clue?
>>     
>
> Mark posted it[1] first and I've posted it in several places too.  So,
> early 2007 in Belgium, 1.8% of the market used Mac OS X, and 1.5% of the
> market used linux, freebsd, or another free OS.
>   
Jan, I think you have misinterpreted it, on page 21 I read:
-) Mac OS = 2,4%, with Mac OS X 10 = 1,8 %
-) Linux = 1,5 %, with Ubuntu = 0,3 %

It frightens me that actually more people are using Windows 95 - an 
unsupported operating system - than Ubuntu :-(

So if you use this survey as a source, I think we should consider 
'growing faster... in desktop/laptop'. What are the other countries in 
the 'most countries' you mentioned?

Sorry for all those nasty questions, but I'm interested in good 
statistics about the use of Linux in countries :).

BTW if you're talking about marketing, I would suspect to read on the 
website that Ubuntu is the most used Linux operating system in 
Belgium... with a link to the survey. Maybe a tip :-). See eg. 
http://www.ubuntu-be.org/index.php?page=ontvangst
> Considering the respective marketing budgets, Mac OS X must be really
> bad in practice to be so close to the "no-budget" operating systems in
> market share... or otherwise price isn't really relevant!  ;-)
>
> Ubuntu did have 0.3% back then, which was the largest free OS.
>
> And remember, this was based on phone calls to actual internet users,
> not based on browser stats or similar metrics that are often faked
> (because of issues with maldesigned websites).
>   
Indeed, I hope they will redo this survey next year.
>
> [1] <http://www.ibpt.be/GetDocument.aspx?forObjectID=2477&lang=nl>
>
>   
Greetings
Mattias

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