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Where is Largest Linux Desktop Install?

jackb_guppy asks: "Talking with Managers about Linux Training for staff. One asked a simple question: 'Where is the largest installed base of Linux desktops?' My guess the question was asked prove that there is no market, and I am unable to find an answer. I am guessing the next question will be: 'Largest site using Linux to replace MS desktops?' Anyone have a suggestion?" Just for fun, if any of you have Linux Desktops deployed in your department, can you give us some numbers?

14 of 606 comments (clear)

  1. my living room!! by turbine216 · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    let's see...i've got my main PC running Debian, and my roommate's PC running RedHat 7.1...the Unreal Tournament server runs RedHat 6.2, and I guess you can count the SmoothWall router distribution too, so that makes 4.


    There you have it...with 4 PC's (and one on the way), it's the world's largest installation of PC's running nothing but Linux!!

  2. try cisco by agentzer0 · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    I seem to remember an announcement about Cisco switching all of their workstations to linux. Try searching slashdot... i think that's where i heard it.

    Certainly a persuasive argument, i would think.

  3. Re:The city of Largo, FL has switched by hyperstation · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    kmail is much better than balsa, imho

  4. Bah, I'm not a troll... by Quasar1999 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Hey, show me how to make a living developing drivers for linux and I'd be all over it...

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    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
  5. IBM by GrEp · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    If it is good enough for "Big Blue" it is good enough for you.

    Just show your manager IBM's Linux sites. For most I doubt that they will need more convincing that Linux is ready for prime time in the desktop market.

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    bash-2.04$
    bash-2.04$yes "Don't you hate dialup connections?"| write USERNAME
  6. Not WinME, but Win98.... by NetJunkie · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    The Postal service runs Win98 right now and that's 80K workstations.

  7. Re:The city of Largo, FL has switched by pinkelefant · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    what i need is a email client which can access microsoft exchange..Mails,Calendar,Contact..everything..
    anybody can suggest one ?

    till then i am stuck with windows..

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    Feel free to concat me with all your troubles...
  8. Google by gmuslera · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    According to this, it have the biggest commercial linux cluster in thw world (like 10.000 servers).

  9. Not done yet by notsboyd · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The largest install will be ENIAC, once Linux/ENIAC is ported and ready...

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    sigfault
  10. Re:On my 3m projector by fobbman · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    From what Sister Mary told me in Catholic school the size of the screen that you're using to look at pr0n has nothing to do with why you are getting bad eyestrain.

    She wasn't a fan of simian abuse.

  11. Here it is! by hhe_hee · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    I think that this is the worlds largest Linux installation ever. IBM says it is the biggest ever commercial use of Linux, it is more than 15000 IBM eServer xSeries running there, can you beat that?

    By the way, did you all know that google has over 6000 Linux servers, ahh me like google _alot_ :)

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    2 reptiles beneath your current threshold.
  12. Re:Why so different by SilentChris · · Score: 4, Offtopic
    "1) why was X dying? I've never had X die except in the rarest occasions or more routinely on systems I had really futzed with. "

    X dies frequently on my system. It really depends on the version of XFree86 you use + your vid card. The error messages aren't terribly helpful to a newbie either.



    "2) why would fsck cause damage to half their filesystem? while I've on occasion hit reset or powered down without a proper shutdown I have never had fsck cause any damage to my filesystem."

    Ever have a newbie try to answer some of the questions fsck puts up? "Your iNode is supposed to be 64, it's 8." "What?" Windows's automatically check in the beginning of the 9x series sucked, but at least it ran pretty much automatically.

    "Furthermore, if that was a concern, a journaling FS like XFS could have solved your problem."

    Um, right answer to the wrong question. Journaling file systems help, but if you fsck fuck have your drive (or the media itself) forget it. Ask anyone running Windows 2000, even with journaling already turned.

    "3) why were newbies having to "figure out" the desktop? what kind of training did you give them?"

    For certain users, no amount of training helps. I'm still teaching people how to click and drag, and I've repeated the instructions to some of them 20 times. There is a difference in innate usability, however, between desktops like KDE and Mac OS. Mac OS X is perhaps the most intuitive GUI I've ever seen, with Windows XP following in second. I like KDE, but it's confusing to most new users.



    "4) you say you kept trying several combinations. wouldn't that tend to lead to increased confusion about and disdain for the new environment? seems like picking one thing after careful evaluation and sticking with it would solve some headdache."

    The average user upgrades their GUI (Windows) every 2-3 years. Things are going to change rapidally. The only problem, as it's been said many times before, is that Linux doesn't have the "advantage" of having a single, standardized desktop. At least if you know one version of Windows, you pretty much have a good idea how the next one is going to act.



    "5) If your bank requires IE, maybe you should consider a new bank? I mean that may seem drastic, but if they are uncapable of supporting the system your business wants to use, I'm sure another bank would be happy to hold on to your money."

    My company has $100 million worth of assets. Some companies are easily in the billions. Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to move that amount of money simply because your browser doesn't work? The bank is supporting 92% of the internet browsing populations -- what more can you ask for? If you go to the vast majority of banks and ask "Does your banking portal work with Linux broswers?" they won't have a clue what you are talking about.

    I find it hard to believe that a majority of these "counterpoint" arguments were even thought out.

  13. Have you metamoderated recently? by digitalunity · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    You get to judge a moderation. When you
    log in, its at the top of the home page.

    From what I know, the metamoderation can
    change a users chance of being a moderator.
    So, when you see unjust moderations, you
    can mark them as unfair and that user may
    not end up moderating any more.

    And your right, anything on topic should
    be posted in the forums. Not just specific
    to the question in the article, but something
    relevant.

    --
    You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
  14. Poor U.S. businesses... by Dwonis · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I hope you can come up with enough of your own U.S.-born tech workers, because I sure as hell won't be moving to the U.S. any time soon (and I'll leave Canada if it gets bad here, too. I have no loyalty to a country that fscks around its citizens.)