| We're all Linux users |
May 23, 2007
 Opinion -- Ever since I wrote "Why people really don't switch to Linux," I've been getting email and forum messages about why I'm right or why I'm wrong. One thing I didn't mention, though, was that really, in 2007, we're all already Linux users.
There may only be a few hundred thousand users running desktop Linux worldwide, compared with tens of millions of Mac users and hundreds of millions of Windows users, but almost all of us are using Linux on a daily basis.
Chris DiBona, Google's open-source programs manager, in an interview with eWEEK.com's ace software development reporter Daryl Taft, explained what I mean.
Taft asked DiBona what open-source software Google uses in deployment or production at Google. DiBona replied, "We use the Linux kernel -- every time you use Google, you're using a Linux machine. And then we have some fairly common open-source tools that we run on top of those, and then on top of those we run our proprietary software for serving Google, Gmail and all the different services."
Did you notice that "every time you use Google, you're using a Linux machine"? Is there anyone out there, except possible Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, who's online and doesn't use Google at least occasionally? I don't think so.
This also reminds me of one of the constant arguments against Linux: "It's too hard." No, it's not. It's all about what user interface you put in front of Linux. Google has the ultimate KISS (keep it simple, stupid) interface.
As interface usability guru Jakob Nielsen recently said in an e-consultancy interview, when asked about the importance of simple-to-use interfaces, "Web companies -- the ones that have been really successful -- are all the sites that are very straightforward; Google is the most famous one."
You really never, ever use Google search or any Google applications? Well, if you're on the Web, 58.48 percent of all the Web servers you might visit, according to Netcraft's May 2007 Web site survey, are running the Apache Web server. And, guess what Apache runs on about four times out of five? Yes, that's right, Linux.
So, if you're a Web user, you're a Linux user.
Not online at all? Well, how are you reading this then?
But perhaps you're one of the 1.7 million people who use a TiVo to see if the Heroes do save the world (hint: the show has been renewed for a second season).
If you are, congratulations, you're a Linux user.
Do you have a mobile phone? Many mobile phones already run Linux, and such big names as Motorola Razr2 and Palm's Treo smart phones will soon be running Linux. To quote a 2006 study of mobile device developers, "Over the past year the percentage of wireless developers targeting the Linux platform with their applications has risen from 24 percent to 37 percent." Soon, it's likely that if you have a mobile phone, MP3 player, or whatever by your side, you'll also have Linux there.
You see, you may think of yourself as someone who would never use Linux on a day-in, day-out basis, but you already are. Linux is everywhere. Now, thanks to efforts from groups and companies such as Ubuntu, Dell, and Novell, Linux is coming to the personal desktop. Considering how well Linux has done in everything else that has a computer of any kind whatsoever in it, do you really want to bet against it being a success there too? I don't.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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