Linux Market Shrinks in 2001

[James_F]

http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=26165

Look like it was a bad year for Linux. Down 5 to 10 percent. Doesn't sound good for the workstation market. Does anyone here use Linux as their main operating system? I have an old computer with it, but does anyone use it for their day to day work?

[MarkA]

I don't but I might switch if I ever get the money to buy myself a hardware modem, then I'd just use Windows for video editing.

[bfennema]

I regularly use Linux both at home and at work, and I wouldn't be counted in IDC's market share numbers as I've never paid a cent for it =)

[James_F]

I'm in a Windows/HP-UX environment at work and a Macintosh/Windows/Linux at home. Truth be told, I wouldn't have linux if it didn't have an old PIII around.

Do you use KDE or GNOME? I've never been really hot on GNOME, but I guess its just a personal preference. The screenshots I've seen of Gnome 2.0 look good, so maybe when I reformat out my drive for RedHat, I'll use Gnome... :shrug:

[MarkA]

My Linux install uses KDE for one reason and one alone - Gnome doesn't have as good of font anti-aliasing

[bfennema]

I use ctwm - on solaris as well =)

[James_F]

Will you go to KDE when it moves to Solairs?

[bfennema]

KDE's moving to Solaris?

I prefer simple window managers. I don't need all the overhead and bloat that KDE and GNOME carry with them (I hate CDE as well) =)

[James_F]

I'm stuck with CDE on HP-UX, but I use the terminal as much as possible... :shrug:

[invaliduser88]

KDE my laptop and desktop boxes. Servers for Redhat linux at least, I bring the servers up to run level 3 and start X only if I need to. When I'm access the server remotely, who cares whether the server's X server is running or not!

[James_F]

Yea, why have overhead on a server. Thats a good policy. I'm working on a home server for all my mp3s and digital photos on a customized RedHat server.

[Steve Mehs]

I wanna get Linux just to play around with it. But I wanna put it on a USB harddrive, since I dont wanna screw up my current configuration. Any suggestions for distributations that support USB?

[James_F]

Mandrake is a great place to start. It has a good partition tool. I use RedHat now, but Mandrake is a great workstation distribution...

You might want to check this out for USB info on Linux...

http://www.linux-usb.org/

[Steve Mehs]

Thanks James!
Now for a hypothetical question, if I were running a workstation, why would I chose Linux over XP PRO or WIN2K Pro/Server?

[James_F]

Command Line!!!!

Apache, StarOffice, mySQL, Quake and Wine...

I personally think LINUX makes a better server than windows, but on workstation I'd stay with XP or Win2k as a primary. Who knows, you might like it. :D

[lee635]

Problems with the article:
- It's from a windows website and opens with partisan comments about linux's undeserved press coverage.
- It refers to linux sales, since linux is mostly open source, sales tell little about market share for OS usage.

We're seeing more linux micocomputers on campus. Could be a sign that the next generation of users is less tied to windows or mac.

[James_F]

Don't get hung up on the fact its a windows website. It was reported many places. The fact is that most Linux installations are servers, not workstations and I think that trend will continue. Look at the UnitedLinux effort. You have a bunch of companies getting together, because there is not enough market for the operating system.

Don't get me wrong, I'm working on a RedHat Linux server for my house and think its a much better solution than Win2k Server, but workstation there is not compelling reason to have it. In fact most software I use is not available on Linux yet. Until that fact changes, I can't see using it as a workstation. :shrug: