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IDC Proclaims Linux Is Now Mainstream

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-of-course-it-is dept.

robyannetta writes "Eweek has an interesting article quoting IDC analyst Al Gillen saying "Linux is no longer a fringe player. Linux is now mainstream." He made that observation because IDC's research predicts that Linux's overall revenue for desktops, servers and packaged software running on Linux will exceed $35 billion by 2008."

4 of 283 comments (clear)

  1. Too Soon by clinko · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is way too soon to say it's mainstream.

    Hell, people don't even think netscape/mozilla/firefox is mainstream and it have 20% or more of the market.

  2. Re:Won't be by wraith0x29a · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My mother (of grandmother age but I'm not budging on the 'no kids' thing) uses Linux (Gentoo with KDE Desktop) with no problems.

    OK, so I set it all up for her (the way a vendor would pre-install Windoze) but once set up it runs smoothly and stays configured the way it was when set up. I simplified everything for her as she is not a power-user, removed lots of menu options and extraneous buttons and it's now so much easier for her to find her way around and actually do stuff than it was with Windows.

    And that's on a hacked-together PII-300 running Gentoo, if she'd bought a pre-installed state-of-the-art Linux box it would be even smoother.

    She has gone from calling me twice a day for tech support to once a fortnight since the switch from Windoze to Linux. I can fix any problem that does occur remotely. So now instead of talking exclusively about Blue Screens of Death, anti-virus software and automated updates we talk about me not providing any grandchildren.

    --
    ~ Better a freak than a sheep. ~
  3. Or by paranode · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Go one step further and become a Libertarian or Green. The more niche categories you put yourself into the less your feelings can be hurt by generalizations!

    Viruses? Hah, that's why I run Linux!!
    Republicans are stupid? So are Democrats? Hah! I'm a Libertarian!
    Popular music is lame? Hah! That's why I only listen to my next door neighbor's garage band who NOBODY knows!

  4. We need more fluff like this by erroneus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's a fluff piece but it has been sorely needed for a while.

    It has long been said that before Linux will be the order of the day, CEOs and their underlings need to read about Linux more and more before they'll start to ask "what is this thing and why aren't we running it?" It had brief exposure on CNN and some other sources, but it still needs more lip service.

    It has long been felt "no one has ever been fired for going with Microsoft..." and that might change too when reliability is compared. I was tickled when I first noticed the RedHat8 server we use at my site has an uptime of greater than a year. No kernel updates or anything else has required a reboot and we've got a damned nice UPS in place. It serves its functions and does it nicely. I just can't get that from a Microsoft server...especially when every security update requires a reboot... especially when end of life means no more security updates and forces an upgrade. Most people have been droned into thinking that's just 'normal' but I just can't see it that way.

    The more Fluff we get, the more the uneducated starts asking about it and making it happen.

    I like where I work though... we're already on a roadmap that dumps Microsoft entirely... my condolences to those who are still stuck in MS-land.