Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | September 2, 2010, 3:18am PDT

The Linux OS has spent years scrabbling to claim a 1% usage share, and ultimately never managing to hold onto it, data by web metrics firm NetMarketShare shows that take Apple’s iOS platform has breezed past it to the number three spot in the operating systems league table.

The iOS platform consists of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. Given the popularity of these devices, and the voracious appetite for web content that users of these devices seem to have, it’s hardly surprising that iOS has trumped Linux.

Android usage share is currently at 0.2%, or around a quarter of the Linux total.

Be aware though that we are dealing here with fractions of percentages, so the margin for error is significant. Rather than deal with specific numbers, I prefer to look at the trends, and what we’re seeing here is iOS on the up, Android also going up, albeit at a gentler pace, and Linux flatlining and taking a nosedive.

NetMarketShare uses data captured from the 160 million unique visitors browsing some 40,000 Web sites it monitors for clients.

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Web, iOS, iOS Usage, iOS Platform, Linux, UNIX, Operating Systems, Open Source, Channel Management, Software, Marketing, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

should i change my Ubuntu to Ios now ? can i run virtualbox on ios ?
j23tom
2nd Sep 2010
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It may not be fair ...

@j23tom ... to compare desktop linux to iOS but... as of right now, not only is (linux-based) Android not keeping up with iOS, desktop Linux is not keeping up with Windows or MacOSX. Gains made by Android are marginal, at best while desktop linux continues to slip.

Despite it's success in the academic (research-oriented) machine-room and in the commercial (server-oriented) machine-room, Linux has had opportunity-after-opportunity to compete in the consumer space without much success.

Micrsoft sells its products at razor thin margins to OEMs and the enterprise and Apple sells its products at premium prices to up-scale consumers but Linux just cannot make any in-roads into that space.
mwagner@...
2nd Sep 2010
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RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

@mwagner@... you r totally wrong
1. I'm just pointing that comparing ios - semi operating system with five usable applications to full os (like linux windows or macos) is stiupid

2. Linux on the desktop is not a product - why should it grow on desktop ?

3. Linux is almost everywhere - new generation of developers is more familiar with due to growth of web based technologies.

4. In world of web based applications sooner or later Linux matures enough for Joe Average.
j23tom
2nd Sep 2010
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Keep Dreaming Buddy! Android is KILLING iOS in Web Use Right NOW!

@mwagner@... Not only is Android Blasting ahead in gains of use, but CrApple's iOS is declining in Web use!!! haha....

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20015564-260.html
i2fun@...
4th Sep 2010
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It's a Thoroughly Bogus Comparison! haha...

@j23tom Apple's doing it's damnedest to cover up the miserable failure of OS-X! Why didn't they compare Linux web usage to OS-X? Simple..... they had to compare iOS to something it could win against. So why not use the good old compare CrApples to Oranges ploy they so love to use? Do you think they want to show that OS-X is FLATLINED? And Android has far superior products to iPad coming out by companies such as Samsung Galaxy Tab!

Notice that's a product iOS Phones/iPods compared to a system that came out almost 2yrs after it. Notice also the big bump it got from the iPad launch along with the simple fact that it also includes all those music players (iPod). Which are their strongest selling iOS products with web access!

Let's see what happens after Google TV's (Sony alone will sell a ton) AND.... Set Top boxes come out, along with all the iPad clones coming out now. Don't forget Android is also launching on music players and it won't be on ONLY one manufacturers hardware. Android OS is the Second Coming of Windows PC Clones to Obliterate CrApple...... AGAIN!!! ....it's CLONE WARS.... baby!!! haha...

IF YOU ARE GOING TO COMPARE LINUX TO ANYTHING...... DON'T FORGET IT LITERALLY RUNS MOST EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IN!!!

From your car, your router, the web (including Google and YouTube), majority of super computers, the Pentagon, DOD, DOE, NSA, Medical Research, Medical Equipment, phones, Servers, 97% of all HPC Clusters and computers, Kiosks, Airports, Airlines, Navigation Equipment, etc and so forth et all!!! ....then tell me if any of these other OS's, including Windows, iOS or OS-X can do all that! .....that's an Oranges to Oranges comparison you'll never see.... because they just plain don't compare in OUR REAL WORK DAY WORLD!

LINUX!!! ....IT'S EVERYWHERE YOU ARE OR EVER WANT TO BE AND DON'T KNOW IT AND IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE!
i2fun@...
2nd Sep 2010
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RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

Ultimately this just show more of what we already new.

Apple users are 'consumers'. Linux users are not.

And yes I mean 'consumers' as a pejorative.
blakjak.au
2nd Sep 2010
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RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

@blakjak.au You mean as in... stupid enough to keep stuffing their cash in Steve iHitler's pockets. To make for his retirement to the grave in a gold lined casket all you fools are paying for. That's just about as lame as it gets. You iNazis brag about being burnt to the tune of Billions in unearned profits. How freaking lame is that? They think it's wonderful to be profit gouged by scoundrels in a corporation that's all about SOFT ASSETS that can disappear overnight! haha.... stupid fools! lol
i2fun@...
3rd Sep 2010
- Flagged
Mistaken

First, Android IS a version of Linux. Separating Android and Linux here is a dishonest sleight of hand. If they want to separate Android and Linux then they would have to list each Linux distro separately as well.

I've never trusted NetMarketShare's numbers to begin with. There is no reliable way to track Linux installs. I'd like to see how NMS compensates for the differences in browsing habits of more technically advanced Linux users vs. the general population. There are far too many variables to be accurate here.

These numbers are largely meaningless.
Tim Patterson
2nd Sep 2010
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And...

Does NetMarketShare also count the millions of other devices running Linux such as set-top boxes, GPS devices, routers, etc...?
Tim Patterson
2nd Sep 2010
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Yes, Linux IS gaining in a lot of areas, especially where the end user does

not need to know the OS. Of the very largest web sites, MS is still about the only one using Windows for instance.
DonnieBoy
2nd Sep 2010
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RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

@Tim Patterson No, they base it on visits to certain websites. A completely flawed model. If you used their approach for my household, they would report 3 Windows computers, 1 IOS, and 2 Android. Reality is 3 Linux machines, 1 Freenas (based on BSD, if I'm not mistaken), and the correctly identified others. Paints a completely different picture.
20kwfence
2nd Sep 2010
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RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

@DonnieBoy: "MS is still about the only one using Windows for instance." Source and number please, I would curious to see that. - Thanks
ItsTheBottomLine
2nd Sep 2010
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Apple doesn't make those kinds of devices ...

@Tim Patterson ... so to what are you going to compare those embedded Linux devices?

In the end, Linux is well-suited to all sorts of embedded consumer devices. It is also well-suited for large machine-room installations of dedicated servers - for the same reason - its versatility.

That doesn't make Desktop Linux well-suited to the consumer desktop - mainly because it is too damned hard for the consumer to find preloaded, too damned hard for the consumer to install, and too damned hard for the consumer to learn to use.
mwagner@...
2nd Sep 2010
- Flag
RE: iOS usage surpasses Linux - by a whisker

@mwagner Too hard? awww.... you poor wittle iOS/OS-X/Windows babies in the world are not smart enough to load a DVD to run Linux Live Install. Meaning you boot it and you have a fully running Linux machine even before it's installed.

The reality is if you can't run a simple distro like Sabayon or Mint, you better give up on computing altogether. There's three year olds and grandmas that can at least do that. In fact there is a purpose built Linux distro for near everyone. Including for 3yr old children to install.

The Cold Facts are that the real difference is that Linux competitors are OEM installs compared to user installs! And that is simply not even close to a good comparison!
i2fun@...
2nd Sep 2010
- Flagged
Well, I think his numbers DO consider that Android a part of Linux. He said

that Android was 1/4 of Linux. He just splits out Android because it is important.
DonnieBoy
2nd Sep 2010
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