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2-Year Study Shows Mac Users Downloading More Open Source Software
AmyVernon writes "We combed through about two years' worth of data on SourceForge, looking at the platforms of the users who downloaded projects, and millions more Mac users are downloading open source projects now than were in February 2010. In the same time, Windows downloads have increased by a much smaller percentage and Linux downloads have actually declined." I wonder how much of this last part can be chalked up to the ever-better download infrastructure that the various Linux distros have. (Note: SourceForge and Slashdot are both part of Geeknet.)
The original "app stores" for Linux are its package repos.
I think the Intel switch in particular was the biggest accelerator of this. Once this happened, one machine could easily run OSX, Linux, Windows and whatever else you might need it to. The Mac lets me be lazy when I want to be (ie use "mainstream" applications like Word, Photoshop, etc) and still gives me easy easy to tools when I need them (ie MacPorts).
It would be nice if said programs would stop depending on X as it is rather shit.
The number of Mac users is growing. Therefore the number of Mac users doing X is growing, whatever X is. For example, the number of Mac users downloading open source software can be expected to grow since there are more Mac users. Now the _percentage_ of Mac users downloading open source software, that would be interesting to know.
A little off topic, but following the parent thread. I am a freelance IT consulting and I see more of my colleagues using Macs with VM software. This combination gives one all that they need. You have complete *nix and all the command line stuff with useful Mac UI and then VM software for all the Windows legacy crap you have to deal with from time to time.
I downloaded MySQL 5 as my DB of choice and PHP (plus python, perl, apache, and others) came pre loaded on the mac.
I hit up Sourceforge if i'm looking for what is out there,
to download, i use apt-get.
I only download from Sourceforge if there isn't a native package already
I want to be clear that the comments below refer to Desktop Linux, not Linux on the server or elsewhere.
After 12 years of being a Linux hacker, and running Linux on all my boxen, I switched to a macbook pro (running OSX) a little over a year ago. Oh, how I wish I had switched sooner. I wish I could reclaim all of the hours spent trying to get things to work on Linux. What a waste of time. My productivity as a software developer took a nice Jump now that the platform works, and is actually a pleasure to sit in front of. I'm sure other developers have arrived at the same conclusion: Life is too short to waste in front of a Linux Desktop.
OSX isn't perfect. I believe the Linux kernel, and other systems level components to be superior on Linux. The overall experience, however, is much better on a Mac. Now that the Linux Desktop is marginalized (due to various reasons), the desktop becomes a means, not an end. People just want things to work so they can get things done.
SourceForge is an awful interface for development. The only reason to go to SourceForge for Linux users is if the project is new enough that you need to download the source and compile it yourself. I've seen more and more new projects moving to GitHub or BitBucket instead of SourceForge. SourceForge's user interface, bug tracker, wiki software, is kind of awful. The newest development isn't happening on SourceForge, it's on GitHub.
The projects still on SourceForge started there when SourceForge was where to go. They're all old enough that they're mature and in the package managers.
I've noticed that too. Do people still use SourceForge? This just means Mac users are behind Linux users on the development curve.
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My guess is that it has to do with the rise of github and bitbucket, together with version control systems that aren't completely dependent on a central repository. Sourceforge used to be the go-to place for coordinating open-source project development, but not so much anymore.
Not that, but maybe some mac users (I'm one of them) used to use linux but decided to get a mac simply because it doesn't require you to read 3 manuals just to change some configuration while still allowing you to have a really powerful console.
Because of my Linux past, I tend to use macports or homebrew to get almost anything, so I suppose I don't count to the sourceforge statistics
I second this, and add the reason that stuff (sound, video) actually works with zero user effort on Mac.
Plus another reason: can't live without software like Photoshop, Pro Tools and Final Cut Pro.
All that AND I get the unix environment I know and love.
Just realize that the fact you can run Windows, Linux and OSX on the same machine has much more to do with Windows and Linux and really nothing to do with OSX.
The only reason you can't do this on every PC hardware platform is because Apple goes out of their way to prevent everyone else from running OSX on non-Apple hardware. They are the only player in the game that has ever done this and it's the most underhanded anti-geek thing there is. What if every OS was keyed to a specific hardware platform?
I find it very ironic that the only reason that a lot of people give for switching to Mac is that OSX is the very reason that Apple is much maligned: locking the OS into their hardware. Nobody else would even consider doing such an insidious thing.
A lot of mac-fanboys (maybe girls, too?) here. I'm using Linux because a) I can put it on every computer/laptop and b) it is a lot easy to use as alternatives (is there KDE for Mac?)
Just now I updated my Fedora 15 to 16, and I don't have to pay a dime. In a year I update to 17 and get the new awesomeness of KDE and other Linux apps, all for free.
But I know in our society if you can't pay for it, it is worthless. So you can't impress your friends with the newest useless expensive gadget. "I have Fedora 16 with KDE4.7" --- "Bahh I have it, too, it's free so you can't impress me"
I was only on sourceforge to download some java or c libraries, because I'm a developer. I wouldn't know what else to download from that site. Everything I need I can download and install with a few mouse clicks. To go to some obscure site (like sourceforge or download.com or some other crap website), it's like back when I still had Windows XP (with all the crap what the setup.exe are installing).
As Linux gets more attraction (like with Ubuntu), there is no wonder that less Linux users will go to Sourceforge to download apps. To get real popularity for a project there is nothing better as get into the main repositories of Debian, Ubuntu, Redhat, Suse (and the other distributions).
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That's the funny thing:for some reason Macs have been a stronghold for shareware for /ages/. If you can find a program to do something for free on a Windows machine, odds are you have to pay $19 for a rough equivalent on the Mac.
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Rational decisions will ruin us, and condemnation is all we have to oppose them. See Garrett Hardin's seminal essay The Tragedy Of The Commons or, if you're in more of a rush, the Prisoner's Dilemma.
There is another explanation that is being ignored. Linux developers are more prone to having migrated to github. Added to that the much larger repositories of debian, and ubuntu which reduce the downloads from the original source. An example of this is that when MySQL stopped offering official downloads for debian, I doubt more than a handful of people noticed, as it was a lot easier to get mysql from debian.org.
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