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Ubuntu User Count Pegged At Over One Billion (phoronix.com)

Posted by timothy on from the depends-how-you-count dept.

An anonymous reader writes: In response to an article claiming Ubuntu didn't reach its goal of 200 million users this year — a goal set out by Mark Shuttleworth in 2011 to surpass 200 million users by 2015 — a Canonical engineer has come out to say the opposite. Dustin Kirkland, a member of Ubuntu Product and Strategy team, has come out to say there are more than one billion Ubuntu users. His billion tally though does include cloud/container instances as well as those shopping online at Wallmart, watching popular movies where the studios used Ubuntu servers, streamed from Netflix, rode with Uber, and other businesses that rely upon Ubuntu servers.

105 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. When you miss a metric... by Wdomburg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When you miss a metric, redefine the metric.

    1. Re:When you miss a metric... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      So, 2015 is still not the year of Ubuntu on the desktop.

      I'm pretty sure that Shuttleworth didn't intend 200 million users to mean one server at Wal-Mart which somehow supports their cash register and inventory control systems data aggregation.

    2. Re:When you miss a metric... by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 4, Insightful

      His claims get even more absurd than that:

      Did you enjoy watching The Hobbit? Hunger Games? Avengers? Avatar? All rendered on Ubuntu at WETA Digital. Among many others.

      You're an Ubuntu user from watching a movie? LOL this is prime trollbait.

    3. Re:When you miss a metric... by ranton · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Heh... Both are right. If you're talking overall desktop users, no, they didn't meet that metric. If you're talking users wherein the usage matters little...the engineer is also right on that score- and they sledgehammered the numbers.

      They are not both right. Counting tablets or even IoT devices that use Ubuntu is a reasonable redefinition of a Ubuntu user. Counting everyone who uses a service that a user of Ubuntu provides is ridiculous. It would be like saying I shop at Walmart because I bought a hamburger from a cashier who bought her shoes at Walmart.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    4. Re:When you miss a metric... by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, both are not right. You are not an Ubuntu user by watching a movie rendered on Ubuntu or because some headless Ubuntu server sends you a video stream. That's just bullshit trying to inflate user numbers.

    5. Re:When you miss a metric... by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

      I didn't watch any of those movies, but I think I once read a book which was printed on paper from a tree which was cut by a logger who uses a phone whose OS contains sourcecode partly written on a computer running Ubuntu.

      So I guess 2015 IS the year of Ubuntu on the desktop afterall.

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    6. Re:When you miss a metric... by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Funny

      My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris using Ubuntu at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    7. Re:When you miss a metric... by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      When you miss a metric, redefine the metric.

      Yep. Kirkland should work for Congress

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    8. Re:When you miss a metric... by sunderland56 · · Score: 1

      Except that I'm not "using" Ubuntu just because a server happens to run it.

      Ubuntu is just a packaging of the Debian kernel, the Gnome UI, and various support bits. The main point of its existence is the desktop and Gnome; what exactly is "Ubuntu server"? Isn't that fundamentally just Debian? How many lines of actual written-by-Canonical code are in use at Walmart?

    9. Re:When you miss a metric... by Hemi+Roid · · Score: 1

      I didn't watch any of those movies, but I think I once read a book which was printed on paper from a tree which was cut by a logger who uses a phone whose OS contains sourcecode partly written on a computer running Ubuntu.

      So I guess 2015 IS the year of Ubuntu on the desktop afterall.

      Only if the book was setting on your desktop.

    10. Re:When you miss a metric... by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Precisely! A Ubuntu user would be one who actually has the OS RUNNING ON his computer, and uses one of the UXs that come w/ it - Unity/GNOME/et al. Incidentally, do they count Lubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu in the list? How about Ubuntu derivatives, like SteamOS or Mint?

    11. Re:When you miss a metric... by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      But that means we should at least count the instances of Ubuntu running because an admin somewhere made the choice to use it on their servers.

    12. Re:When you miss a metric... by geoskd · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No, both are not right. You are not an Ubuntu user by watching a movie rendered on Ubuntu or because some headless Ubuntu server sends you a video stream. That's just bullshit trying to inflate user numbers.

      In his roundabout way, what he is saying is that although Ubuntu did not achieve its original goal of 200 million desktop users, it did achieve a much greater success as the OS of choice on many times that number of embedded and server devices, a purpose for which Ubuntu is an excellent choice. IOS and Android have the mobile market, Microsoft has the desktop market, and Ubuntu is quickly nailing the embedded and server markets. Which of those do you think is bigger and/ or more important? Desktop use cases are slowly being replaced by more mobile platforms with cloud servers backing them up. Embedded devices are quickly growing in complexity, quantity and capability. At the end of the day, Microsoft's stronghold is of fading relevance. Android and IOS are at the height of their popularity, and have nowhere to go but down (damn near everyone has a cellphone, and tablet. There really isn't anywhere to grow those markets). The IoT has only growth ahead of it. A typical household has maybe a half dozen embedded devices capable of running an OS. By 2050, that number will be over 100 per household, and you can be damn sure that none of those device will run Windows, IOS or Android, much as Microsoft wishes otherwise.

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    13. Re:When you miss a metric... by killkillkill · · Score: 1

      I bought a hamburger from a cashier who bought her shoes at Walmart

      ... which uses Ubuntu.

      Found another Ubuntu user.

    14. Re:When you miss a metric... by geoskd · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu is a toy.

      IBM said the same thing about PCs and windows in the '80s. History has shown them to be morons. Do you want to reconsider your position?

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    15. Re:When you miss a metric... by pr0fessor · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My not so tech savvy brother had me build a pc for him. He decided to go for Ubuntu instead of windows because his phone and tablet didn't need to run windows and use the money he saved not buying windows to max out the ram. I helped him rip his dvd collection and setup Kodi, he had gimp and open office to make fliers for his band, and was really happy with it for a little over a year. Then he bought a new TV we just couldn't get to work right and instead of taking the time to figure out the issue with drivers he got frustrated and bought win 10 he still uses Kodi, gimp, and open office. Had he asked prior to purchasing the TV I would have recommended something else and he would still be on Ubuntu.

    16. Re:When you miss a metric... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      packaging of the Debian kernel, the Gnome UI,

      the standard ubuntu release, which most people use, hasn't used gnome as default desktop since 2010 (maverick 10.10).

    17. Re:When you miss a metric... by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2

      Which of those do you think is bigger and/ or more important?

      Mobile by far. It's why Apple makes 10s of billions of dollars a year selling iPhones while Canonical still hasn't show it's even profitable.

    18. Re:When you miss a metric... by sglewis100 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. And even beyond that, counting tablets and IoT devices is over counting. If the metric is "# of Ubuntu devices deployed", then it's fine. If it's the # of Ubuntu users, it's over counting. If I have a Linux media server, a desktop running Linux and a tablet running Linux, that's three devices. But one user.

    19. Re:When you miss a metric... by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      Oh, it was.

      It sat on the top of my desk after I bought it.
      It lay on top of my lap when I read it.
      It was put in a big rack of other books after I finished it.
      Once, I even had it balanced on top of my TV set, just for laughs.
      I moved that book around so much, one might have called it mobile.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    20. Re:When you miss a metric... by Vlijmen+Fileer · · Score: 2

      Yup. Ubuntu is hardly more than glorified Debian.
      Except they use their homegrown UI now I think, not Gnome.
      Gnome became impossible to use after Gnome devs insulted the world by dumbing it down to a wallpaper with three buttons or so.

    21. Re:When you miss a metric... by sglewis100 · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu is a toy.

      IBM said the same thing about PCs and windows in the '80s. History has shown them to be morons. Do you want to reconsider your position?

      In fairness, if you look at the rise of the PC desktop running DOS then Windows vs. the rise of Linux on the desktop, IBM has been proven wrong, and the poster you are responding to, far from a moron, since there hasn't been a corresponding meteoric rise.

      It's been so long people have been waiting for Linux on the Desktop to be completely mainstream, that it's not even a goal anymore, since laptops and tablets have all but supplanted desktops, people should be clamoring for Linux on the Notebook these days. I realize I'm just mincing words, but the truth is the desktop came and went before Linux became a real mainstream thing.

      Celebrate what it is. A fantastic server OS. A viable desktop for the technologically savvy. The fact that we _COULD_ force it on our grandmothers who don't really use computers we give them anyway isn't really the point.

    22. Re:When you miss a metric... by tepples · · Score: 1

      Incidentally, do they count Lubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu in the list?

      If they're counting Ubuntu Server, then they're probably counting all Ubuntu-branded distributions.

    23. Re:When you miss a metric... by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Just create a lot of metrics and pick and choose which ones you like. If none of them work out, turn the data into some percentage over the other metrics.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    24. Re: When you miss a metric... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      oh, man, we have the makings of a years-long meme starting up here. Well done, fellows, Merry Christmas and please continue.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    25. Re:When you miss a metric... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      His claims get even more absurd than that:

      Did you enjoy watching The Hobbit? Hunger Games? Avengers? Avatar? All rendered on Ubuntu at WETA Digital. Among many others.

      Do you exist in the same space-time continuum as Ubuntu? Congratulations, you're an Ubuntu user!

      Have you ever used the letters "U" and "B" together? Congratulations, you're 33% of the way to being an Ubuntu user!

      Seriously, I like Ubuntu and support Linux, but this is just silly. It's like saying anyone who's ever had a cup of coffee is related to Juan Valdez.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    26. Re:When you miss a metric... by chipschap · · Score: 2

      You're kind of proving the point that Linux isn't ready for the desktop. People who buy a Windows desktop generally get things working. People who end up with Linux are geeks, or being hand held by a geek.

      Is all of this true? I ask this as a genuine question.

      1) Is Linux ready for the desktop? Depends whose desktop. It's certainly ready for mine. But I won't argue the point that it isn't mainstream.

      2) The big claim you make, that people who buy a Windows desktop generally get things working (sans being/being guided by a geek). Is that really the case? Granted there are fewer driver issues, etc., since manufacturers target Windows platforms, and the above cited case of the TV, some devices simply don't support Linux ... but does the average Windows user really "get things working" most of the time?

      3) Yes, behind a Linux installation there is usually a geek somewhere. My wife uses Linux, but I set it up and maintain it. That's true of a lot of people. They are quite able to use Linux, but can't support it. (Although I doubt they could support Windows, either.)

    27. Re:When you miss a metric... by chipschap · · Score: 1

      Celebrate what it is. A fantastic server OS. A viable desktop for the technologically savvy.

      You left out the most important thing: the basis for a tablet/phone operating system used by millions and millions.

      The year of Linux on the desktop may never come. But the year of Linux on mainstream mobile devices has long arrived. (And whether you like Android or not is as irrelevant as whether you like Windows or not.)

    28. Re:When you miss a metric... by sglewis100 · · Score: 1

      Well you're right and you're wrong. You're certainly right in terms of Linux. You're certainly wrong in terms of Ubuntu. But I realize the conversation was bouncing between both.

    29. Re:When you miss a metric... by ranton · · Score: 1

      Or are we going to claim that every person who connects to a Windows server is a Windows user?

      Can you imagine the extra licensing costs if companies like Microsoft or Oracle started counting users this way? We would have the world's first trillion dollar companies.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    30. Re:When you miss a metric... by TheCaptain · · Score: 1

      It's funny you mention the UI, since they're counting servers in their figures. How many of the servers that he's counting actually make much use of a graphical UI on a regular basis?

    31. Re:When you miss a metric... by swillden · · Score: 2

      a phone whose OS contains sourcecode partly written on a computer running Ubuntu.

      FYI, most Android source code is written on computers running Goobuntu, which is a Google-internal customized version of Ubuntu.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    32. Re:When you miss a metric... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I bet she chose to use Linux all on her own.

    33. Re:When you miss a metric... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I am gonna admit it on Slashdot. Err... I don't like Ubuntu much. I just really don't like it. It's okay and all but I just can't get it to be quite like I want - easily. Yeah, I can do it but it takes more work than I feel like doing.

      Yet, on the other end, I love Lubuntu. I love LXDE. The simplicity, the ease of customization, the speed on new (even old) hardware, and more are all things that I enjoy about it. It's an official flavor so I get the ecosystem and the support. It's odd because I used to prefer Gnome but they kind of went off the rails and so did I.

      See, for the past twenty years, I'd pretty much always had Linux installed on a spare partition and maybe running a server. (I spent a lot of time with Unix. I've been poking at Linux since the mid 1990s.) But I spent little time booted to it, except to update, and never spent much time using it as a desktop. Then, I felt like I was stagnating, getting mentally fat, and I went on a hunt for the best distro for me.

      I like Mint, Cinnamon of course, and have been happy with that on a few boxes. Hell, sometimes I don't even install an OS and just use a Live USB. But, no... I've come to really appreciate Lubuntu and I think I'm happy here for a while.

      That said, one of the things I find strange is the people who look for affirmation. I have a server set up at home that I allow certain people to access via remote. They are not Linux users. Why do they *need* to be? What does it matter? Is it really that important what OS you're a fan of? Do they need affirmation from others to make them feel comfortable with their choices?

      Meh... I think Lubuntu might be the less frequently used official flavor. I'm okay with that. I found what works for me and, well... I guess I don't really let what others say matter to me. I don't need their approval and the numbers are irrelevant. I dunno... It just seems strange to me.

      On that note, happy holidays or what not. One kid and their affianced is here and the other should be here shortly so, I shan't have much time for this whole internet thing.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    34. Re:When you miss a metric... by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 1

      I have been the "goto geek" for several dozen computer users for the last 25+ years. Most of these users have no technical savvy and no interest in what goes on in the box. They want to mess with their photos, use FaceBook et al, shop on line, do YouTube, etc. They go to me when they get in trouble. They are most definitely computer users.

      About half of them are now using Ubuntu and various FOSS software. Thois group has no more trouble with their usual uses than those who continue to buy Windows upgrades, Windows security patches, and commercial software. The only difference I see (apart from the obvious savings) is that the Ubuntu/FOSS users more often call for help because they have downloaded something from the Ubuntu repositories that will expand their capabilities and need help in understanding something that is entirely new to them. In contrast, the Windows users are more reluctant to try anything new and their problems mostly involve regaining functionality after some newly bought upgrade has wrecked their old way of doing things. Example: The Ubuntu user wants me to show him how to get started with a vector graphics art package like Inkscape while the Windows user needs help in getting his photo galleries working since his last Windows upgrade.

      Ubuntu and similar Linux distros are definitely ready for the masses. But as Linux distros with good quality repositories are adopted, the role of the computer support geek shrinks. That is very threatening to those who have invested a lot of their ego into Windows expertise. And even more threatening to those who want to make a living off of fixing other people's problems with proprietary software. People threatened by these kinds of changes to their inflated egos and income streams make a helluvalot of anti-Linux noise.

      --
      Will
    35. Re:When you miss a metric... by chipschap · · Score: 1

      This reminds me of a situation some years ago; we had set up a Linux server installation with the usual LAMP stack and it was all working fine. Some so-called consultants came in and visited top management, trying to convince them to throw out the software and replace it with Microsoft IIS. The bottom line on that, of course, was that this group didn't/couldn't support a Linux installation, and made their living supporting Microsoft products. Which stack would have served the customer better was of no concern to them, it was which one could they make money from.

    36. Re:When you miss a metric... by geoskd · · Score: 1

      "...you can be damn sure that none of those device will run Windows, IOS or Android, much as Microsoft wishes otherwise." So Microsoft wishes otherwise, but Apple and Google do not wish otherwise? I realize you mentioned their products but the absence of the company names is telling.

      Apple doesn't care one iota about IOS in the embedded space. For Apple, IOS is a necessary cost of their core business: Selling hardware with exceptionally high margins.

      Google cares only marginally about the embedded space because it doesn't give them any opportunity to serve ads. As such, it is largely useless to their core business. The ability to collect and resell information about the users is of some interest to both Microsoft and Google, but not enough to make this a valuable target market for them.

      In the end, all three are too short sighted to see the limitations of content consumption devices. They are the current fad, but their popularity has now peaked. Almost everyone who wants a tablet / cell phone has one. The 2 year cell phone cycle will hold apple for a while, but the tablet boom has to bust because these devices have a much longer useful lifespan than cell phones. This is the same pattern we saw early in the PC / Internet craze where people had to upgrade their PC every 2 years just to keep up. Now, a 10 year old PC can handle most kinds of normal usage, and a 5 year old PC can do everything except the hardcore games.

      I mentioned Microsoft explicitly in regards to the embedded space because Microsoft has made actual efforts to capture some of that market indicating a desire to pursue it. In addition, Microsoft is the only major player that has no upside potential in the next decade. Unless Microsoft can find a new market to penetrate, their bread and butter is threatened at every turn. Both Apple and Google have significant market share in markets that are not likely to wane quickly or soon (search and mobile). Microsoft's business derives almost exclusively from desktop PCs and laptops, both of which are directly challenged in the private user arena by mobile devices, Which Microsoft has been unable to make significant inroads into without sacrificing margin to the point of loss. This leaves Microsoft relying on their business customers to an extent that is extremely unhealthy, and can evaporate fast and without warning. If some enterprising young startup manages to leverage wine into a works well enough product, they could seriously threaten Microsofts Desktop OS hegemony. Likewise, open office, libre office or Google docs could easily undercut Microsoft office in the business setting, leaving Microsoft with no revenue stream, and nowhere to pivot to.

      Microsoft is unlikely to die quickly, as they have enough entrenched userbase in the business products arena to sustain them for quite a while, but it is very likely that Microsoft will follow in IBMs footsteps and just slowly slide away to irrelevance with slowly dwindling revenues and margins.

      Finally, you have predicted the future. So now you presume to know the future as well?

      In this arena? Yes. I know what is going to happen because it is fairly obvious to most people who are alert and intelligent. The only real question is how long it will take. Most of what I described is possible today. We don't have it today because that kind of thing is expensive to get into homes except as new construction. Retrofit is more expensive, so almost no one does it. Consequently, it will take 30-50 years for it to pervade the houses of the world. I see it now. In all the new construction I see, most of the $M+ homes have voice activated and geolocation activated controls for lights, HVAC, entertainment, houshold appliances, exterior maintence, etc... I even saw one place with an automated lawn mower that keeps his 50 acres cut without needing human intervention. Most of the current incarnations use the customers cell phone or tablet as the control interface, but it will be trivial to

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    37. Re:When you miss a metric... by matbury · · Score: 1

      Perhaps they've learned a little from how the music industry calculates its losses to unauthorised copying. But it seems they haven't learned enough. By the music industry's calculations it should be closer to $1 trillion is losses from unauthorised uses of Ubuntu. (They don't understand FOSS, BTW).

    38. Re: When you miss a metric... by mspohr · · Score: 1

      Yes, far too many whingers here (as usual).
      They each have their own definition of "meaningful use" to DQ Ubuntu.
      Meanwhile, Ubuntu just keeps expanding its reach.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    39. Re: When you miss a metric... by BeaverCleaver · · Score: 1

      Just one more anecdote here. Had to install mint on an old laptop to run the (cool!) AR sandbox software from UC Davis. Ridiculously easy to install to dual boot with windows 8 on a cheap lenovo. In fact I am sick of Microsoft's shenanigans and will soon switch to Mint on my main PC, quite a nice Dell laptop. Citrix client Just Works. Media Just Works. PCB CAD software (kicad or eagle, take your pick) Just Works. What's left? The occasional poorly I formatted Word document? I can can use a VM for that rare occasion. The side benefit is I lose all the Dell crapware that does infuriating things like steal focus from whatever window I'm working in because the ambient light changed. Seriously, that was a thing. Took a while to trawl the forums to fix it too.

      --
      sustainable living
    40. Re: When you miss a metric... by unixisc · · Score: 1

      No, if you run Windows server on multiple cores, it counts each core as a separate instance. That's different from someone remote connecting to the multi-core server and running something - s/he doesn't know or care how many cores is powering it. But the people who own the server and pay per core for Windows will and do

    41. Re: When you miss a metric... by unixisc · · Score: 1

      So GP, cashier as well as the hamburger and the shoe all use Ubuntu?

    42. Re:When you miss a metric... by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 1

      You don't need a CAL to access a Windows web server. I think that is what the OP was talking about.

    43. Re: When you miss a metric... by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      Like when SCO claimed to be the most popular UNIX because of all the promo CD's they'd pressed?

    44. Re: When you miss a metric... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Mint is pretty nice. I've found it a bit buggy on some Nvidia cards but, oddly, the official Ubuntu flavors run fine - even if I hack a bit and installed Cinnamon DE. It should be noted that I don't actually have to interact with other people in a business realm, really. I don't care if you send me a .doc and I can't read it. I'll email you and ask you to call or I'll just settle for reading it.

      My children are getting my girlfriend drunk. They've been teasing me about my having a girlfriend that is younger then they are. I no longer drink, I'm retired from my professional drinking career a few years ago, so it's kind of awkward. I might have one or two with 'em but that'll be it. I can only imagine how stupid I sounded when I was still drinking. Ah well...

      At any rate, I don't use Citrix but we used to have that setup in my office. Secretarial staff, meeting rooms, on-site people from various municipalities or businesses, etc. would make use of them. That was on these little Wyse thingies. I haven't played with CAD since I designed my house and brought it in for the architect to polish and review. I brought that in on digital and paper (I still own a plotter). I roughed it out on a real drafting table because I'm geeky like that and actually had thought about becoming an architectural draftsman before settling on mathematics.

      You should be able to disable automatic focus stealing by registry edits. I used to have a site that had that information but I've long since forgotten it. ;-) Shoulda asked way back then. I do use a lot of VMs but mostly just to poke, play, and learn stuff. I like VMware. 'Tis handy.

      Also, I'm not entirely positive but I think my kids are actually more expensive to buy for now than they were when they were children. My daughter wants a Honda Accord (good choice, kid) and my son (who doesn't drink much) has decided to accept a loan/gift and has found a bar he wants to buy in Peru. They're still not discussing marriage but his girlfriend's a very cute native girl. He's done well. *nods*

      Yes, yes I am a bit bored. Happy holidays.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    45. Re: When you miss a metric... by recoiledsnake · · Score: 1

      According to that logic, every developer that uses StackOverflow (which is all of them), is basically a Windows Server user since they host on Windows Server/IIS.

      --
      This space for rent.
    46. Re:When you miss a metric... by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu and similar Linux distros are definitely ready for the masses.

      I disagree, they are almost ready, and it's not the code base that's the problem it's more the relationship with manufactures. When every manufacture starts making sure there are working drivers for their hardware at launch like they do for windows then it will be fully ready.

      I've used linux off and on since the early 90s and it's always the same problem some manufacture don't care if their consumer stuff doesn't work with linux so either you wait for someone capable of writing drivers to take interest or write them yourself. Otherwise it's a good stable system and if you purchase your hardware with linux in mind then it works out great.

       

    47. Re:When you miss a metric... by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 1

      some manufacture don't care if their consumer stuff doesn't work with linux

      Too true. But that conflates the concept of being "ready for the desktop" with being "idiot proof". No operating system can protect its user from stupid purchasing decisions.

      To put that another way, no desktop ready operating system can compensate for a user who is not desktop ready.

      Car analogy: Persons in the market for a 2.5 ton crew cab pickup truck can that can tow a 10,000 lb camping trailer should not be purchasing top of the line Lexus or Porsche products based on the quality of their entertainment systems.

      --
      Will
    48. Re:When you miss a metric... by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      There is a big difference between idiot proof and not having drivers for common name brand hardware.

      It would be more like purchasing a GMC truck to haul a trailer but finding out the truck would have to modified because the required hitch is only made to fit ford F-Series trucks.

    49. Re:When you miss a metric... by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 1

      The idiot is the a**hole who buys equipment or software without first determining if the product is suitable for its intended purpose. There are standards in place for towing hitches (Category I through Category III, etc) so the idiot who buys a truck or a trailer with a non-standard hitch system has fully earned his right to pay a fool's tax. The same with software, since although there are fewer recognized standards, the Internet with all its forums makes it easy enough for someone who hasn't yet learned the where the pitfalls are to borrow the expertise of others.

      Failure to do your homework and thus lock yourself into somebody's walled garden is not the fault of any OS. It is solely the fault of the purchaser. Parent poster's inability to recognize the difference between being in Microsoft's walled gardens and using a computer that is desktop ready is a serious limitation, but one he will probably outgrow, in time. Yes, those within the walled garden are currently using desktop ready systems. But so are a lot of other people on the other side of those walls, where the view of the real world is much larger.

      Some people need to unshackle themselves, step out of the cave, and look around. There is much more going on than Windows' puppet and shadow show will ever put before your eyes.

      --
      Will
  2. Windows Users by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    So does this mean that Microsoft should now count anyone who has looked through a window as a Windows user?

    1. Re:Windows Users by geoskd · · Score: 2

      So does this mean that Microsoft should now count anyone who has looked through a window as a Windows user?

      With the failure to force Windows 10 on "customers", that tactic can't be long in coming...

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    2. Re:Windows Users by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      And yet Windows 10 still has vastly more users than those of Ubuntu. And Microsoft doesn't have to count people connecting to a Windows server or people watching a movie that may have been edited on a Windows machine as users to reach their numbers.

    3. Re:Windows Users by geoskd · · Score: 1

      Failure?

      Windows 10 has a roughly 10% market share. This is in spite of the fact that A: Microsoft is giving it away for free. B: Microsoft has created an upgrade process for windows 7 & 8 that makes upgrading a default. So, People who are staying with Windows 7, 8 have to *actively* do so. It actually is fairly easy to accidentally "upgrade" to windows 10, and in spite of all that, the majority of people are staying with windows 7. It is also very telling that Windows 10 has only a marginally higher usage rate than windows XP. It should also be noted that business will *not* move to windows 10. Ever. The user interface is so different that it would require massive employee retraining. It is significant enough, that with the introduction of windows 8, switching to an alternative OS like Mac or Linux actually became viable over moving wot windows 10. When LTS for windows 7 ends, if the only options are Windows 8/10 and comparable, then companies will decide that paying to retrain employees will be more cost effective if they go to an OS that does not cost large sums of money... The deal is even better when you consider that Linux based UIs tend to be more like Windows 7 than windows 10 is, meaning that retraining to use Unity, Lubunu, or some other such will be less expensive than retraining to use windows 10. Mark my words; when it comes time for the end of windows 7 LTS, Microsoft will have introduced another windows 7 like UI to move to, or will simply decide to extend windows 7 support.

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    4. Re:Windows Users by geoskd · · Score: 1

      And Microsoft doesn't have to count people connecting to a Windows server or people watching a movie that may have been edited on a Windows machine as users to reach their numbers.

      No? Microsoft has a History of misleading statistics of their own.

      If you want more examples, you're free to Google it yourself

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    5. Re:Windows Users by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      And yet basing something on number of licenses sold is stil far better than counting a person watching The Hobbit as a user because the SFX was rendered on an Ubuntu computer.

    6. Re:Windows Users by geoskd · · Score: 1

      And yet basing something on number of licenses sold is stil far better than counting a person watching The Hobbit as a user because the SFX was rendered on an Ubuntu computer.

      Not when it comes to servers or embedded systems. People have no idea what OS runs on the servers that provide them with everything they see every day from the OS running their router and NAS, The OS on their Roku, or DVD player. The OS running on their thermostat. At the end of the day, those are still users, and they are arguably far more important than desktop users. Just like mobile OS rendered the desktop OS' to a backseat role going forward, Embedded OS will render the mobile OS as largely irrelevant as well. In 50 years, you will interact with the majority of your devices by way of voice recognition and audible responses. The OS that underlies these functions will be a Linux variant, likely Ubuntu. Windows can't get traction on anything other than desktop PCs. This is because people don't like windows. Mostly they use it because they have to. Hardware manufacturers don't like windows. It costs too damn much, and Microsoft has a history of screwing their business partners. The market has spoken, and it chose Android and IOS. Microsoft continues to be used on the desktop mostly because business have a huge investment in training their employees how to use windows, and many CIOs have no idea there are alternatives. The only thing keeping business' on windows is that training investment. If that were to become irrelevant, then the obvious business decision is to abandon Windows. This can be seen by the absolutely abysmal uptake of windows 8 and 10. The adoption rate of those two versions is almost exclusively limited to the percentage of PCs that are new hardware sold to consumers with windows pre-installed (Note that PCs destined for business use are almost exclusively windows 7).

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    7. Re:Windows Users by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Do you think they knew it would be a shitpile so they made sure to give it an even numbered release so everyone would just know immediately? We all know the blight of even numbered Windowses, so maybe it was a hint.

      I'm so puzzled by why they had to shit it up so hard. The festival of data leaks you can't turn off, the giant walls of scripts people run trying to fix it... I get that privacy aware users aren't any kind of majority, but why even get that word of mouth? When 7 came out, I told everyone that it was really good. When 8 came out, I said that the UI sucked when people asked me, but that internally it was solid. When 10 came out, I told everyone to avoid it period because it's scary as all hell. I'm just one dude but... I know a bunch of other guys who have the same general thought process. I mean, why jump through hoops to piss off ANY part of your potential userbase? Is the allure of the machine that sends what you do, what you type, who you type it to, when you use progams, etc. just so DELICIOUS that they couldn't resist?

      We knew it would suck when you couldn't turn off the updates. If you aren't allowed to do something, then you probably have a really great reason to do that thing. We knew it would suck way more when we saw the embedded ads and such, and the total lack of privacy is so shocking I don't know why anyone would use it.

      The two people at work running 10 both got it when someone else in their house pressed the upgrade button. I don't know anyone personally who sought out and installed Windows 10. Microsoft's marketing strategy is apparently hoping that your wife or kid has admin rights on the family PC and will press yes to popups. Windows 10 is the new Bonzi buddy.

    8. Re:Windows Users by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Windows 8 was a bad enough UI that should have encouraged organizations to switch to one of the FOSS. While I did it - went from Windows 8 to PC-BSD, I do like Windows 10. The UI is fine, although the apps do need work, and the telemetry needs to be more controlled.

      Anyway, my point here - all new PCs and laptops come pre-loaded w/ Windows 10, except for the ones that might just come w/ FreeDOS. So companies have to actively, as you noted, order Windows 7 Pro, keeping in mind that it has a shorter LTS term than Windows 10. While UI retraining for Windows 8 was there, Windows 10 is a lot more similar to Windows 7 than Windows 8 ever was. Like if one always selects desktop mode, the Metro interface will never show up. Only eyesore is those giant icons in the pulldown menu.

      So yeah, people currently running Windows 7 are probably gonna stay w/ it, and will successfully resist attempts to force migration. But people are also getting new boxes, and those are gonna come w/ Windows 10. There will probably be utilities and interfaces that make it more like Windows 7, but that should be no more difficult than Classic Shell

    9. Re:Windows Users by iampiti · · Score: 1

      I'd like to believe you because I really want a new Windows with a Win 7-like UI (and philosophy) but I don't think it will happen.
      I dislike Win 10 so much I'm thinking of moving to Linux when Win 7 is no longer a viable desktop OS. They only need to do another Win 7 to keep me but it seems they don't want my money (of course I'd pay for a license the same the Win 7 I'm running cost me).

  3. Childish excuses by aglider · · Score: 1

    Not less than that. Ubuntu is great. But didn't reach the 200M users target. Period.

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    1. Re:Childish excuses by unrtst · · Score: 1

      ...Ubuntu is great. But didn't reach the 200M users target. Period.

      The stats in the article are absolute bullshit, but that doesn't mean the target wasn't met. I'm quite curious what the real numbers are, though I understand it's impossible to get a completely accurate number.
      * counts of distinct os instances pulling updates from any official mirror?
      * counts of known installs?
      * counts of distinct os instances that hit their advertising search thing?
      * counts of repo mirrors being pulled (to estimate remote mirrors serving one or more other instances)?
      * ditto for alternative versions (things based on ubuntu)?

      I suspect none of those will get the number up to 200M, but it wouldn't surprise me if it strongly implied a count somewhere in that neighborhood (maybe even more).
      (disclaimer, I did not RTFA)

    2. Re:Childish excuses by RicktheBrick · · Score: 2

      I was given a windows 7 laptop because the hard drive was not working and it would not boot. So I purchased another hard drive but I than needed to install an OS. The problem was that the sticker for windows 7 was worn and the code was unreadable. I suspect they put the code there so it would get worn. I installed Ubuntu on it since the laptop was not even worth the price Microsoft would have charged for a clean installation of any of its operating systems. It has been working now for more than a couple of years. Ubuntu is the savior of hardware and windows is a active destroyer of hardware. There are other reasons but for that reason alone Ubuntu is far better than Windows.

    3. Re:Childish excuses by short · · Score: 1

      s/Ubuntu/Linux/ in your post and then we can agree. Those two terms are not equal.

    4. Re:Childish excuses by chipschap · · Score: 1

      Actually, you're an idiot. Even with a worn code, you could have called Microsoft, explained the situation, and they would have granted you an activation code on the spot. You won't get that kind of customer service out of Canonical, I guarantee it.

      And you wouldn't need it, either. No activation codes with Ubuntu ...

      (Yes, I'm deliberately missing/modifying the point. But the statement stands; Ubuntu is open and free.)

    5. Re:Childish excuses by unrtst · · Score: 1

      Even with a worn code, you could have called Microsoft, explained the situation, and they would have granted you an activation code on the spot. You won't get that kind of customer service out of Canonical, I guarantee it.

      You won't get that because there is no correlation. There are no activation steps or codes required for Ubuntu, so you would never have to call in the first place.

      For hardware support, good luck calling Microsoft for that. That is vendor specific (ex. Dell, HP, Apple, System76, etc). If the vendor did not supply the hardware with the OS you have chosen, then you won't get the support your after either. That includes vendors selling a system with Windows 10 while you want to install your own copy of Windows XP, or buying an Apple and wanting to install Windows 2000 as the default OS, or a System76 Ubuntu laptop and wanting to install OSX, etc etc etc.

      I'm sure there are anecdotes that show the opposite, but they're not the norm. Buy some product, and you get support for that product for a specific period of time for specific configurations.

      FWIW, Linux has far more broad hardware support than Windows (as is available to the public... who knows what they support in their labs and such). I'm sure you were probably referring to Windows specific hardware, such as the old winmodems or the latest graphic cards or esoteric CAD hardware and such. However, there's a LOT of other hardware out there with entirely different cpu's and architecture that Linux supports but you won't get Windows on it. Ditto to a wide variety of niche software. True, there are no recent versions of Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office for Ubuntu, but the raw count of programs that aren't available on Linux (especially if you discount ones with equal or better counterparts) is quite low.

      All that said, you're probably right that he probably could have called MS and got a one time activation code. Woop-de-do.

  4. Math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So earth has like 4.7 billion people on it, are you trying to tell me that one in five of those are full-time ubuntu users? I don't believe you one iota.

    1. Re:Math by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2

      No, he's trying to claim silly things like watching The Hobbit makes you an Ubuntu user:

      Did you enjoy watching The Hobbit? Hunger Games? Avengers? Avatar? All rendered on Ubuntu at WETA Digital. Among many others.

    2. Re:Math by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      All of his claims are not right. The "users" of Ubuntu are the ones running the servers. I'm not an Ubuntu user simply because I make a web request to some headless Ubuntu server at some random location in the world. That's the silliest definition of "user" ever imagined up, but it's about all the people have who have been trying to claim "Year of the Linux desktop!!" since the 90s.

      Next up, you're a Ford owner because the Uber car you got a ride in was made by Ford.

    3. Re: Math by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Since ubuntu was derived from Debian, looks like Debian has more users. Stupid argument is stupid - the only difference being that , unlike Kirkland, I know my argument is nonsense.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    4. Re:Math by CaseCrash · · Score: 1

      So earth has like 4.7 billion people on it

      Dear lord are you behind. There are over 7.3 billion people on earth.
      Hell, we hit 5 billion in 1987.

      --
      No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
    5. Re:Math by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Then this guy isn't shooting high enough. There's got to be at least 6 billion Ubuntu users in that crowd if you twist the facts hard enough.

    6. Re:Math by Desler · · Score: 1

      He is clearly not claiming that people who watched those movies are ubuntu users, but to point that many servers running ubuntu were userd in the proccess of making those movies.

      Wrong. He was claiming that as "indirect" use.

    7. Re:Math by geoskd · · Score: 1

      So earth has like 4.7 billion people on it, are you trying to tell me that one in five of those are full-time ubuntu users? I don't believe you one iota.

      What he was really saying is that of the roughly 20 Billion devices on earth capable of running an operating system, Ubuntu is on 5% of them. Comparatively speaking, thats pretty impressive. Microsoft only has about 1.25 Billion of those machines. Apple has a little over 1.5 Billion. Android passed the 1 Billion mark in 2014. By installed base, that puts Canonical in the big leagues. Moreover, Canonical has not even stopped accelerating their adoption rate in the embedded space. All three of the other big OS players have effectively saturated their respective markets, and have nowhere to grow to.

      --
      I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    8. Re:Math by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      What he was really saying is that of the roughly 20 Billion devices on earth capable of running an operating system, Ubuntu is on 5% of them.

      Bullshit, the person wasn't talking about 1 billion device but users:

      How many "users" of Ubuntu are there ultimately? I bet there are over a billion people today, using Ubuntu -- both directly and indirectly. Without a doubt, there are over a billion people on the planet benefiting from the services, security, and availability of Ubuntu.

  5. Re:Awful, specious reasoning by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The guy is probably just butthurt that Android made "desktop Linux" irrelevant. Canonical has spent more than a decade in the game and can't even scrape together 200 million users without inflating the count, yet Google passed that in just a couple of years with Android.

  6. Re:Well in that case, by malditaenvidia · · Score: 1

    They are OLPC users

  7. Re:And Ketchup is a vegetable! by malditaenvidia · · Score: 1

    What about pizza?

  8. Re:Fine. Pedant. by malditaenvidia · · Score: 2

    Windows 10 alone has over 70 million installs, and people are resisting it.

    That's pathetic compared to Ubuntu's >1 billion. Seriously, is Micro$oft even trying?

  9. Re:Awful, specious reasoning by EvilSS · · Score: 1

    The guy is probably just butthurt that Android made "desktop Linux" irrelevant. Canonical has spent more than a decade in the game and can't even scrape together 200 million users without inflating the count, yet Google passed that in just a couple of years with Android.

    Well with all that pegging going in in the ubuntu community (according to the headline at least) I imagine he's very butthurt.

    --
    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
  10. Canonical Linuxes by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Doesn't Canonical still provide Lubuntu or Xubuntu? Or do those not count as normal Ubuntu distros?

  11. Re:Do MINT users count? by unixisc · · Score: 1

    I don't accept that VMs and servers count as multiple users. Next they'll be claiming that if one runs 2-3 virtual desktops, it counts as 2-3 users.

    Before looking at downstream derivative distros such as SteamOS or Mint, what I'm wondering is whether they count Lubuntu and Xubuntu in their numbers? How about Kubuntu, which Canonical no longer makes, and which therefore might fall under the same category as Mint??

  12. Re:Fine. Pedant. by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Looking at IPs sounds like a poor way to measure things, given that in IPv4, there are shared static public IPs and dynamic private IPs. In fact, if you count that way, it's tough to hit 1 billion, since IPv4 itself only has 3.7 billion public IPs, once you take out the private IPs as well as the class D & E IPs. Not to mention the VMs that have IP addresses of their own

  13. Re:All bullshit by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    You didn't realize you were a Chevy owner simply by riding in one? How silly of you.

  14. Re:Awful, specious reasoning by unixisc · · Score: 1

    And they're running like chickens w/ their heads cut off - they made tablet and phone versions of their OS which nobody wanted.

  15. Umm by DougOtto · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ubuntu users pegged?

    I hope that's an optional thing.

    --
    Solving Unix problems since 1989...
    1. Re:Umm by JazzXP · · Score: 1

      Type pegging in to Pornhub....

  16. Audit them by freeze128 · · Score: 2

    If these "users" are in fact true, then they will have a user ID on the systems they used. No user ID, you're not a user. Pretty simple, really.

    1. Re:Audit them by sglewis100 · · Score: 1

      Also having a user id doesn't make you a user. I just created (don't get excited, I subsequently deleted it) a user on my server called freeze128. You aren't a user of my server.

  17. Re:And Ketchup is a vegetable! by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

    What about pizza?

    I tell my wife that the reason I end up eating multiple bowls of salsa when we go eat Mexican food is so I can get my vegetables.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  18. Maybe not 'users' by gaelfx · · Score: 2

    While clearly this is a gross misuse of the word 'users,' arguing the semantics of it is kind of rhetorical (you may as well put on an orange toupee).

    We could pick him apart for using the word 'users' in an inappropriate fashion, but the heart of what he says *is* something significant: Ubuntu touches the lives of far more people than actually realize that it exists. Sure, watching the movie doesn't make me an Ubuntu user, but the fact still remains that Ubuntu has influenced my life in some fashion by being a part of that movie being made. It's a sign that Linux has gained some sort of foot-hold in the world and won't likely be dying anytime soon.

  19. Did Shuttleworth miss his goal? by MMC+Monster · · Score: 1

    So if his goal was 200 million users at the end of the year and when he said it we were clearly much more than 200 users, what was his goal?

    To reduce the number of people using Ubuntu to less than 200 million?

    Maybe that would explain the UI changes...

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
  20. Sorry, i dropped ubuntu years ago by drolli · · Score: 1

    In 2008/9/10 Untuntu was grat because they just fixed some thing which needed fixing.

    from 2010-2011 Ubuntu got a little torublesome since they continued to fixing thing which did not need fixing in their own way (graphics/deskton enviroment)

    after 2011 it becam unbearable since they did not even finish the things they started and neglected their core feature (stable as debian but easier to install on laptops)

    That being said, i actually own two devices which had ubuntu preinstalled.

  21. Typical Freetardian by Horatio_Hellpop · · Score: 1

    I just don't get it. After all these years, freetards still insist that Linux has a place as a desktop OS. Well ... it does. Last place. Servers? Unquestionably a huge and vital presence. Let's leave it where it works best. Time to cry two tears in a bucket and say f#*k it -- goodbye desktop linux arguments.

    --
    Frammin' on the jim-jam, frippin' at the krotz!
  22. Re:let's roundup the Muslims by EdwardFurlong · · Score: 1

    Yeah! We know who you are Anonymous Coward!

  23. Lies, damn lies and statistics by sdinfoserv · · Score: 1

    No way... I've downloaded Ubuntu many times over the past 7 years - Stopped using it shortly there after each time. I just can't look back after that Unity debacle, what a wretched interface . I would bet he considers me 'a user'.. I've gone farther up the ecochain and use Debian.

  24. Numbers on G+ by Parker+Lewis · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure what this number does it mean, but the Ubuntu community on G+ has 245,066 members. I think it's a good number, considering it's a opt-in signup.

  25. Counted the same as Oracle by nsushkin · · Score: 1

    He counted users the same way Oracle would have counted users of Oracle database for licensing purposes. If a user connects to Oracle database to get data, they are counted.

  26. Re:Awful, specious reasoning by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    Because Ubuntu on TVs (remember back when that was gonna be on all sorts of TVs back in 2013?), tablets and phones have been wildly successful. *rolls eyes*

  27. I've converted millions to Windiws apparently. by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

    I've worked on ads that were seen by tens of millions of people, who knew that in the process they became windows users! I should apparently be hired as a Microsoft Evangelist. /s

    Windows was also used by Weta on those films. Every film has at least one windows license doing something. That means every Ubuntu user is simultaneously a Windows and OSX user.

  28. Re:let's roundup the Muslims by demented_hedgehog · · Score: 1

    In addition, we can now round up those people who want to round up the first lot of people that want to round up people.

  29. Re:7 Billiom People Need to Shit by Guy+Harris · · Score: 1

    The Ultimate in "market share".

    Yeah, but does Toto use Ubuntu in any of their products?

  30. Microsoft Windows free for years .. by nickweller · · Score: 1

    I've been Microsoft Windows free for years and haven't noticed any dilution in my computing experience.

    1. Re:Microsoft Windows free for years .. by recoiledsnake · · Score: 1

      Do you use StackOverflow? If so, you're a Windows user according to the article's logic.

      --
      This space for rent.
  31. Re:why are you bitching about ubuntu, by nickweller · · Score: 1

    If you don't like it, then don't use it !!!