[Openicc] Fedora CM, was: Google Summer of Code . . .

[Hal V. Engel]

On Friday 21 May 2010 01:57:45 am Richard Hughes wrote:
> Lets assume there are approximately a billion personal computers, i.e.
> desktops and laptops. Lets say 0.5% of them are being used with a
> fairly up to date Linux, which I think is somewhat optimistic. That's
> 5 million Linux desktops to aim for.
> 

I see this type of think fairly often on Linux forums and email lists.  But 
are only 0.5% of end user machines running Linux?    

Several years ago I read a report (in InfoWorld I think) that put the 
installed market share of Linux end user machines at 4%.  This was in Dec. 
2004 and at that point the number of Linux end user machines was greater than 
the number of Macs (about 3.8% of all end user machines were Macs according to 
the report).  In addition the researchers who wrote the article estimated that 
by 2010 that the installed base of end user machines would have about a 10% 
Linux share.    I think based on other reports I have read that the growth 
rate of Linux has exceeded these estimates.

I am only pointing this out because it appears to me that many in the Linux 
community get the number so wrong and end up making estimates that would have 
been correct in the late 1990s rather than using numbers that are more up to 
date.   Using outdated numbers makes the Linux community look like a fringe 
group when in fact Linux is well on it's way to becoming mainstream and is the 
number two end user OS. 

Hal