Business is not Evil (was: HOW-TO: Giving up Ubuntu)

[Daniel Goldsmith]

Sorry to butt in on this argument, but one aspect jumps out and annoys me

On 11/16/05, Derek Broughton <news at pointerstop.ca> wrote:
> Tshepang Lekhonkhobe wrote:

> > can have market share and it's not restricted to those who bought a
> > commercial GNU/Linux variant...
>
> No, we can't.  Market share is _defined_ based on the $ value of the market.
> Since Linux is, for the most part, free as in beer, we can never have a
> measurable market share.

This is wholly incorrect on two counts. Firstly, market share is not
wholly defined on a dollar basis, the market is all of the available
computers. In that market there are several sub-areas, depending on
usage. Linux has a solid grip on large numbers of those subgroups -
internet servers, development workstations &c. Even on Patrick Moore's
Sky at Night BBC programme, it was encouraging to see some of the ESA
guys involved in the Huygens probe with Tux stickers affixed to their
notebooks. Note I said some - not all. Desktop Linux share is small,
granted, but in other areas the market share does include a
significant Linux element. Just put Linux Market Share into google and
read the results.

Secondly, to dismiss the paid for Linux market as 'Linux is, for the
most part, free as in beer' is a travesty. Enterprise Linux solutions
are, almost exclusively, dollar valued. These are good valid
implementations of Open Source technologies, and they are gaining
ground. They have taken the tools which the communtiy have created and
are making money. Even in that respect, they are gaining market share.

2c,

Regards,

Daniel