Ubuntu User Count Pegged At Over One Billion (phoronix.com) 165
An anonymous reader writes: In response to an article claiming Ubuntu didn't reach its goal of 200 million users this year — a goal set out by Mark Shuttleworth in 2011 to surpass 200 million users by 2015 — a Canonical engineer has come out to say the opposite. Dustin Kirkland, a member of Ubuntu Product and Strategy team, has come out to say there are more than one billion Ubuntu users. His billion tally though does include cloud/container instances as well as those shopping online at Wallmart, watching popular movies where the studios used Ubuntu servers, streamed from Netflix, rode with Uber, and other businesses that rely upon Ubuntu servers.
When you miss a metric... (Score:5, Insightful)
When you miss a metric, redefine the metric.
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When you miss a metric, redefine the metric.
Yep. Kirkland should work for Congress
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Just create a lot of metrics and pick and choose which ones you like. If none of them work out, turn the data into some percentage over the other metrics.
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So, 2015 is still not the year of Ubuntu on the desktop.
I'm pretty sure that Shuttleworth didn't intend 200 million users to mean one server at Wal-Mart which somehow supports their cash register and inventory control systems data aggregation.
Re:When you miss a metric... (Score:5, Insightful)
His claims get even more absurd than that:
Did you enjoy watching The Hobbit? Hunger Games? Avengers? Avatar? All rendered on Ubuntu at WETA Digital. Among many others.
You're an Ubuntu user from watching a movie? LOL this is prime trollbait.
Re:When you miss a metric... (Score:5, Funny)
I didn't watch any of those movies, but I think I once read a book which was printed on paper from a tree which was cut by a logger who uses a phone whose OS contains sourcecode partly written on a computer running Ubuntu.
So I guess 2015 IS the year of Ubuntu on the desktop afterall.
Re:When you miss a metric... (Score:5, Funny)
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I didn't watch any of those movies, but I think I once read a book which was printed on paper from a tree which was cut by a logger who uses a phone whose OS contains sourcecode partly written on a computer running Ubuntu.
So I guess 2015 IS the year of Ubuntu on the desktop afterall.
Only if the book was setting on your desktop.
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Oh, it was.
It sat on the top of my desk after I bought it.
It lay on top of my lap when I read it.
It was put in a big rack of other books after I finished it.
Once, I even had it balanced on top of my TV set, just for laughs.
I moved that book around so much, one might have called it mobile.
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a phone whose OS contains sourcecode partly written on a computer running Ubuntu.
FYI, most Android source code is written on computers running Goobuntu, which is a Google-internal customized version of Ubuntu.
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His claims get even more absurd than that:
Did you enjoy watching The Hobbit? Hunger Games? Avengers? Avatar? All rendered on Ubuntu at WETA Digital. Among many others.
Do you exist in the same space-time continuum as Ubuntu? Congratulations, you're an Ubuntu user!
Have you ever used the letters "U" and "B" together? Congratulations, you're 33% of the way to being an Ubuntu user!
Seriously, I like Ubuntu and support Linux, but this is just silly. It's like saying anyone who's ever had a cup of coffee is related to Juan Valdez [youtube.com].
Re: When you miss a metric... (Score:2)
Just one more anecdote here. Had to install mint on an old laptop to run the (cool!) AR sandbox software from UC Davis. Ridiculously easy to install to dual boot with windows 8 on a cheap lenovo. In fact I am sick of Microsoft's shenanigans and will soon switch to Mint on my main PC, quite a nice Dell laptop. Citrix client Just Works. Media Just Works. PCB CAD software (kicad or eagle, take your pick) Just Works. What's left? The occasional poorly I formatted Word document? I can can use a VM for that rare
Re:When you miss a metric... (Score:5, Interesting)
My not so tech savvy brother had me build a pc for him. He decided to go for Ubuntu instead of windows because his phone and tablet didn't need to run windows and use the money he saved not buying windows to max out the ram. I helped him rip his dvd collection and setup Kodi, he had gimp and open office to make fliers for his band, and was really happy with it for a little over a year. Then he bought a new TV we just couldn't get to work right and instead of taking the time to figure out the issue with drivers he got frustrated and bought win 10 he still uses Kodi, gimp, and open office. Had he asked prior to purchasing the TV I would have recommended something else and he would still be on Ubuntu.
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You're kind of proving the point that Linux isn't ready for the desktop. People who buy a Windows desktop generally get things working. People who end up with Linux are geeks, or being hand held by a geek.
Is all of this true? I ask this as a genuine question.
1) Is Linux ready for the desktop? Depends whose desktop. It's certainly ready for mine. But I won't argue the point that it isn't mainstream.
2) The big claim you make, that people who buy a Windows desktop generally get things working (sans being/being guided by a geek). Is that really the case? Granted there are fewer driver issues, etc., since manufacturers target Windows platforms, and the above cited case of the TV, some devices simply don't support
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I have been the "goto geek" for several dozen computer users for the last 25+ years. Most of these users have no technical savvy and no interest in what goes on in the box. They want to mess with their photos, use FaceBook et al, shop on line, do YouTube, etc. They go to me when they get in trouble. They are most definitely computer users.
About half of them are now using Ubuntu and various FOSS software. Thois group has no more trouble with their usual uses than those who continue to buy Windows upgrades,
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This reminds me of a situation some years ago; we had set up a Linux server installation with the usual LAMP stack and it was all working fine. Some so-called consultants came in and visited top management, trying to convince them to throw out the software and replace it with Microsoft IIS. The bottom line on that, of course, was that this group didn't/couldn't support a Linux installation, and made their living supporting Microsoft products. Which stack would have served the customer better was of no conce
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Ubuntu and similar Linux distros are definitely ready for the masses.
I disagree, they are almost ready, and it's not the code base that's the problem it's more the relationship with manufactures. When every manufacture starts making sure there are working drivers for their hardware at launch like they do for windows then it will be fully ready.
I've used linux off and on since the early 90s and it's always the same problem some manufacture don't care if their consumer stuff doesn't work with linux so either you wait for someone capable of writing drivers to take interest or w
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some manufacture don't care if their consumer stuff doesn't work with linux
Too true. But that conflates the concept of being "ready for the desktop" with being "idiot proof". No operating system can protect its user from stupid purchasing decisions.
To put that another way, no desktop ready operating system can compensate for a user who is not desktop ready.
Car analogy: Persons in the market for a 2.5 ton crew cab pickup truck can that can tow a 10,000 lb camping trailer should not be purchasing top of the line Lexus or Porsche products based on the quality of their entertainment
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There is a big difference between idiot proof and not having drivers for common name brand hardware.
It would be more like purchasing a GMC truck to haul a trailer but finding out the truck would have to modified because the required hitch is only made to fit ford F-Series trucks.
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The idiot is the a**hole who buys equipment or software without first determining if the product is suitable for its intended purpose. There are standards in place for towing hitches (Category I through Category III, etc) so the idiot who buys a truck or a trailer with a non-standard hitch system has fully earned his right to pay a fool's tax. The same with software, since although there are fewer recognized standards, the Internet with all its forums makes it easy enough for someone who hasn't yet learned
Re:When you miss a metric... (Score:5, Insightful)
Heh... Both are right. If you're talking overall desktop users, no, they didn't meet that metric. If you're talking users wherein the usage matters little...the engineer is also right on that score- and they sledgehammered the numbers.
They are not both right. Counting tablets or even IoT devices that use Ubuntu is a reasonable redefinition of a Ubuntu user. Counting everyone who uses a service that a user of Ubuntu provides is ridiculous. It would be like saying I shop at Walmart because I bought a hamburger from a cashier who bought her shoes at Walmart.
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I bought a hamburger from a cashier who bought her shoes at Walmart
Found another Ubuntu user.
Re: When you miss a metric... (Score:2)
oh, man, we have the makings of a years-long meme starting up here. Well done, fellows, Merry Christmas and please continue.
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Re:When you miss a metric... (Score:4, Insightful)
No, both are not right. You are not an Ubuntu user by watching a movie rendered on Ubuntu or because some headless Ubuntu server sends you a video stream. That's just bullshit trying to inflate user numbers.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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Which of those do you think is bigger and/ or more important?
Mobile by far. It's why Apple makes 10s of billions of dollars a year selling iPhones while Canonical still hasn't show it's even profitable.
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Re: When you miss a metric... (Score:2)
Yes, far too many whingers here (as usual).
They each have their own definition of "meaningful use" to DQ Ubuntu.
Meanwhile, Ubuntu just keeps expanding its reach.
Audit them (Score:3)
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Except that I'm not "using" Ubuntu just because a server happens to run it.
Ubuntu is just a packaging of the Debian kernel, the Gnome UI, and various support bits. The main point of its existence is the desktop and Gnome; what exactly is "Ubuntu server"? Isn't that fundamentally just Debian? How many lines of actual written-by-Canonical code are in use at Walmart?
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the standard ubuntu release, which most people use, hasn't used gnome as default desktop since 2010 (maverick 10.10).
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Yup. Ubuntu is hardly more than glorified Debian.
Except they use their homegrown UI now I think, not Gnome.
Gnome became impossible to use after Gnome devs insulted the world by dumbing it down to a wallpaper with three buttons or so.
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It's funny you mention the UI, since they're counting servers in their figures. How many of the servers that he's counting actually make much use of a graphical UI on a regular basis?
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But that means we should at least count the instances of Ubuntu running because an admin somewhere made the choice to use it on their servers.
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Incidentally, do they count Lubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu in the list?
If they're counting Ubuntu Server, then they're probably counting all Ubuntu-branded distributions.
Re: When you miss a metric... (Score:1)
Lol Windows server
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According to that logic, every developer that uses StackOverflow (which is all of them), is basically a Windows Server user since they host on Windows Server/IIS.
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Or are we going to claim that every person who connects to a Windows server is a Windows user?
Can you imagine the extra licensing costs if companies like Microsoft or Oracle started counting users this way? We would have the world's first trillion dollar companies.
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You don't need a CAL to access a Windows web server. I think that is what the OP was talking about.
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Ubuntu is a toy.
IBM said the same thing about PCs and windows in the '80s. History has shown them to be morons. Do you want to reconsider your position?
In fairness, if you look at the rise of the PC desktop running DOS then Windows vs. the rise of Linux on the desktop, IBM has been proven wrong, and the poster you are responding to, far from a moron, since there hasn't been a corresponding meteoric rise.
It's been so long people have been waiting for Linux on the Desktop to be completely mainstream, that it's not even a goal anymore, since laptops and tablets have all but supplanted desktops, people should be clamoring for Linux on the Notebook these day
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Celebrate what it is. A fantastic server OS. A viable desktop for the technologically savvy.
You left out the most important thing: the basis for a tablet/phone operating system used by millions and millions.
The year of Linux on the desktop may never come. But the year of Linux on mainstream mobile devices has long arrived. (And whether you like Android or not is as irrelevant as whether you like Windows or not.)
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Windows Users (Score:2)
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And yet Windows 10 still has vastly more users than those of Ubuntu. And Microsoft doesn't have to count people connecting to a Windows server or people watching a movie that may have been edited on a Windows machine as users to reach their numbers.
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And yet basing something on number of licenses sold is stil far better than counting a person watching The Hobbit as a user because the SFX was rendered on an Ubuntu computer.
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Do you think they knew it would be a shitpile so they made sure to give it an even numbered release so everyone would just know immediately? We all know the blight of even numbered Windowses, so maybe it was a hint.
I'm so puzzled by why they had to shit it up so hard. The festival of data leaks you can't turn off, the giant walls of scripts people run trying to fix it... I get that privacy aware users aren't any kind of majority, but why even get that word of mouth? When 7 came out, I told everyone that
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Windows 8 was a bad enough UI that should have encouraged organizations to switch to one of the FOSS. While I did it - went from Windows 8 to PC-BSD, I do like Windows 10. The UI is fine, although the apps do need work, and the telemetry needs to be more controlled.
Anyway, my point here - all new PCs and laptops come pre-loaded w/ Windows 10, except for the ones that might just come w/ FreeDOS. So companies have to actively, as you noted, order Windows 7 Pro, keeping in mind that it has a shorter LTS t
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I dislike Win 10 so much I'm thinking of moving to Linux when Win 7 is no longer a viable desktop OS. They only need to do another Win 7 to keep me but it seems they don't want my money (of course I'd pay for a license the same the Win 7 I'm running cost me).
Childish excuses (Score:2)
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...Ubuntu is great. But didn't reach the 200M users target. Period.
The stats in the article are absolute bullshit, but that doesn't mean the target wasn't met. I'm quite curious what the real numbers are, though I understand it's impossible to get a completely accurate number.
* counts of distinct os instances pulling updates from any official mirror?
* counts of known installs?
* counts of distinct os instances that hit their advertising search thing?
* counts of repo mirrors being pulled (to estimate remote mirrors serving one or more other instances)?
* ditto for alternativ
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I was given a windows 7 laptop because the hard drive was not working and it would not boot. So I purchased another hard drive but I than needed to install an OS. The problem was that the sticker for windows 7 was worn and the code was unreadable. I suspect they put the code there so it would get worn. I installed Ubuntu on it since the laptop was not even worth the price Microsoft would have charged for a clean installation of any of its operating systems. It has been working now for more than a couple
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Actually, you're an idiot. Even with a worn code, you could have called Microsoft, explained the situation, and they would have granted you an activation code on the spot. You won't get that kind of customer service out of Canonical, I guarantee it.
And you wouldn't need it, either. No activation codes with Ubuntu ...
(Yes, I'm deliberately missing/modifying the point. But the statement stands; Ubuntu is open and free.)
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Even with a worn code, you could have called Microsoft, explained the situation, and they would have granted you an activation code on the spot. You won't get that kind of customer service out of Canonical, I guarantee it.
You won't get that because there is no correlation. There are no activation steps or codes required for Ubuntu, so you would never have to call in the first place.
For hardware support, good luck calling Microsoft for that. That is vendor specific (ex. Dell, HP, Apple, System76, etc). If the vendor did not supply the hardware with the OS you have chosen, then you won't get the support your after either. That includes vendors selling a system with Windows 10 while you want to install your own copy of Windows
Canonical Linuxes (Score:2)
Math (Score:1)
So earth has like 4.7 billion people on it, are you trying to tell me that one in five of those are full-time ubuntu users? I don't believe you one iota.
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No, he's trying to claim silly things like watching The Hobbit makes you an Ubuntu user:
Did you enjoy watching The Hobbit? Hunger Games? Avengers? Avatar? All rendered on Ubuntu at WETA Digital. Among many others.
Re: Math (Score:2)
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All of his claims are not right. The "users" of Ubuntu are the ones running the servers. I'm not an Ubuntu user simply because I make a web request to some headless Ubuntu server at some random location in the world. That's the silliest definition of "user" ever imagined up, but it's about all the people have who have been trying to claim "Year of the Linux desktop!!" since the 90s.
Next up, you're a Ford owner because the Uber car you got a ride in was made by Ford.
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He is clearly not claiming that people who watched those movies are ubuntu users, but to point that many servers running ubuntu were userd in the proccess of making those movies.
Wrong. He was claiming that as "indirect" use.
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So earth has like 4.7 billion people on it
Dear lord are you behind. There are over 7.3 billion people on earth.
Hell, we hit 5 billion in 1987.
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Then this guy isn't shooting high enough. There's got to be at least 6 billion Ubuntu users in that crowd if you twist the facts hard enough.
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What he was really saying is that of the roughly 20 Billion devices on earth capable of running an operating system, Ubuntu is on 5% of them.
Bullshit, the person wasn't talking about 1 billion device but users:
How many "users" of Ubuntu are there ultimately? I bet there are over a billion people today, using Ubuntu -- both directly and indirectly. Without a doubt, there are over a billion people on the planet benefiting from the services, security, and availability of Ubuntu.
Umm (Score:5, Funny)
I hope that's an optional thing.
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Maybe not 'users' (Score:3)
While clearly this is a gross misuse of the word 'users,' arguing the semantics of it is kind of rhetorical (you may as well put on an orange toupee).
We could pick him apart for using the word 'users' in an inappropriate fashion, but the heart of what he says *is* something significant: Ubuntu touches the lives of far more people than actually realize that it exists. Sure, watching the movie doesn't make me an Ubuntu user, but the fact still remains that Ubuntu has influenced my life in some fashion by being a part of that movie being made. It's a sign that Linux has gained some sort of foot-hold in the world and won't likely be dying anytime soon.
Did Shuttleworth miss his goal? (Score:2)
So if his goal was 200 million users at the end of the year and when he said it we were clearly much more than 200 users, what was his goal?
To reduce the number of people using Ubuntu to less than 200 million?
Maybe that would explain the UI changes...
Sorry, i dropped ubuntu years ago (Score:2)
In 2008/9/10 Untuntu was grat because they just fixed some thing which needed fixing.
from 2010-2011 Ubuntu got a little torublesome since they continued to fixing thing which did not need fixing in their own way (graphics/deskton enviroment)
after 2011 it becam unbearable since they did not even finish the things they started and neglected their core feature (stable as debian but easier to install on laptops)
That being said, i actually own two devices which had ubuntu preinstalled.
Typical Freetardian (Score:1)
Lies, damn lies and statistics (Score:2)
Numbers on G+ (Score:2)
Counted the same as Oracle (Score:2)
I've converted millions to Windiws apparently. (Score:2)
I've worked on ads that were seen by tens of millions of people, who knew that in the process they became windows users! I should apparently be hired as a Microsoft Evangelist. /s
Windows was also used by Weta on those films. Every film has at least one windows license doing something. That means every Ubuntu user is simultaneously a Windows and OSX user.
Microsoft Windows free for years .. (Score:2)
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Do you use StackOverflow? If so, you're a Windows user according to the article's logic.
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The guy is probably just butthurt that Android made "desktop Linux" irrelevant. Canonical has spent more than a decade in the game and can't even scrape together 200 million users without inflating the count, yet Google passed that in just a couple of years with Android.
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The guy is probably just butthurt that Android made "desktop Linux" irrelevant. Canonical has spent more than a decade in the game and can't even scrape together 200 million users without inflating the count, yet Google passed that in just a couple of years with Android.
Well with all that pegging going in in the ubuntu community (according to the headline at least) I imagine he's very butthurt.
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Because Ubuntu on TVs (remember back when that was gonna be on all sorts of TVs back in 2013?), tablets and phones have been wildly successful. *rolls eyes*
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What about pizza [nbcnews.com]?
I tell my wife that the reason I end up eating multiple bowls of salsa when we go eat Mexican food is so I can get my vegetables.
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Windows 10 alone has over 70 million installs, and people are resisting it.
That's pathetic compared to Ubuntu's >1 billion. Seriously, is Micro$oft even trying?
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I don't accept that VMs and servers count as multiple users. Next they'll be claiming that if one runs 2-3 virtual desktops, it counts as 2-3 users.
Before looking at downstream derivative distros such as SteamOS or Mint, what I'm wondering is whether they count Lubuntu and Xubuntu in their numbers? How about Kubuntu, which Canonical no longer makes, and which therefore might fall under the same category as Mint??
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You didn't realize you were a Chevy owner simply by riding in one? How silly of you.
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The Ultimate in "market share".
Yeah, but does Toto [toto.co.jp] use Ubuntu in any of their products?
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