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2009/1/16 Tom Potts <tompotts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>: > Its a tricky one to answer - I've 6 machines here with Linux on and one was > paid for. I know of several machines with paid for Vista that now run XP or > linux. If you're basing your stats on boxes sold then yes, Linux may well not show up significantly on any of these lists. However that's not the only way stats are compiled. Software downloads and business surveys are often taken into account which is more representative of the real state of affairs. > That would come up in the stats as 1 linux, several vista. > Linux may only have 1% market share but 99% of pc's may be running it and > Vista may have 90% market share but only 1% of pc's trying to run it. Indeed, it is difficult to gauge, especially when Linux can be freely copied, and there is nothing "phoning home" to show a successful install/download. > Market share is meaningless to anyone but bean counters. I disagree. If we want to show software vendors that Linux is a viable platform for them, we need to be able to indicate how many potential customers are out there. Shrugging our shoulders at them and say "I dunno" isn't helping. Similarly hardware vendors need to invest time and effort making their products Linux compatible. If they think Linux represents near-zero market-share then there is no motivation for them to make their products Linux-friendly. It's not just about graphs & charts and willy-waving competitions, this stuff is actually important. Cheers, Al. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html