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Linux maturity reflected in site analysis

Blogging at LinuxWorld yesterday, I didn't expect to see the circus on the Expo floor, replete with contract models hired as exhibitors, mascots, swarms of polo and khaki types playing video games, and a mechanical bull. But it's a sure sign that times are changing for Linux.
Written by Natalie Gagliordi, Contributor

TraxBlogging at LinuxWorld yesterday, I didn't expect to see the circus on the Expo floor, replete with contract models hired as exhibitors, mascots, swarms of polo and khaki types playing video games, and a mechanical bull. But it's a sure sign that times are changing for Linux.

A BT Trax analysis of all Linux-tagged content consumed on News.com, ZDNet News, and the IT Papers directory over the last seven quarters shows that news buzz (the product of headlines and page views) has dropped significantly since this time a year ago. At the same time consumption of Linux white papers, case studies, and Webcasts increased considerably, particularly in the final quarter of 2004. Since then, however, the traction has also been slipping and now it’s on a similar slope as news interest. 

So what does it mean? Well, in the case of news, the big headlines of the past, such as the SCO controversy and Linux vs. Microsoft TCO studies, generated the kind of buzz that hasn’t been touched so far in 2005.  And that awareness helped drive attention into the IT directory where many companies were actively promoting their marketing content. But as the data suggests, it looks like most IT pros that needed to weigh in Linux for their orgnizations have already done so by now, and are in some stage of Linux or open source deployment. 
  
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