Slashdot Mirror
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).
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.
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
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.
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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