back to article Shuttleworth's Ubuntu makes like Space Shuttle

It looks like astronaut and tech magnate Mark Shuttleworth's investment in the Ubuntu commercial Linux distribution is about to pay off. Ubuntu is taking off like a rocket, and the sale of Novell to Attachmate plus the higher prices Red Hat is charging for its Enterprise Linux 6 are probably going to fuel Ubuntu's adoption even …

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  1. Mikel

    Good to see them doing well

    Ubuntu's good stuff. Hearing lots of server folks talking about it. Smooth integration with EC2 is a big deal. Canonical gets "cloud".

  2. Jonathan 17

    Even despite bringing Linux to the masses.....

    Gnome and Debian will moan that Ubuntu doesnt contribute enough or in the right way. Oh yeah, open source is all about the choice to use software how and when you want, and modify it if you want, but if you modify it in a way we dont agree with then you are Bad.

    Please... Ubuntu has probably drawn more people to open source than any other open source project.

    1. Vic

      Really?

      > Please... Ubuntu has probably drawn more people to open source

      > than any other open source project.

      gcc? Apache?

      Vic.

    2. Yas
      Headmaster

      I HAZ NO TITLEZ

      "Please... Ubuntu has probably drawn more people to open source than any other open source project."

      Errr no mate... You might want to have a little look at Apache or MySQL, oh and there's that little thing called the Linux Kernel. Also honestly don't think we would be where we are today with Redhat's contribution

      I am a massive Ubuntu fan, use it where i can, but i am also very appreciative and aware of history. Making sweeping statements just seems a bit silly and derides the great work other contributors have made to this wonderful ecosystem we call Open Source Software.

      1. Paul M 1

        Title

        I suspect the OP meant to say

        "Ubuntu has probably drawn more NORMAL people to open source than any other open source project."

        which I think is more likely.

        1. thecakeis(not)alie

          @Paul M 1

          To which I say only this:

          VLC.

        2. Vic

          Nope.

          > "Ubuntu has probably drawn more NORMAL people to open

          > source than any other open source project."

          That would still be wrong.

          It might be correct top say "Ubuntu has made sufficient noise to show more people that they are already using open source than any other project has", but I'd need stats to know for sure.

          Vic.

  3. Optymystic

    Vile graphs

    In which the colour code changes between them. Red Hat is red (clever that) in one, but blue in the other. Graphical representation is meant to make the data easier to understand, not to cause complete confusion. There are several hundred thousand unemployed out here, who can use a spreadsheet.

  4. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Ok ... Let's Rattle a Few Cages .... and Enliven Paper Tigers to Play ... Let Us Pay

    "On the server front, the server variant of the 10.04 LTS release had all of the new or impending x64 processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices baked into it as well as a fully integrated variant of the Eucalyptus cloud framework for creating cloudy infrastructure for applications to romp around." ..... For All of urFuture Computerized Feeds for Live Operational Virtual Environments in Heavenly Spaces Raunchy Places ..... and would the Hot UNAdultERated XSSXXXX Plug In and Hang-On-for-ITs-a-Rocky-Bumper-Ride-for-Now-and-Ahead Module/Alternative Investment Communications Node/ESPecial IntelAIgents Exchange Hub, be ITs Current Master Pilot .... an Invisible Shell Organisation for NEUKlearer HyperRadioProActive Fuel Distribution with Titanic Rains of Dumped Information and Dodgy Intelligence, or much more Agreeably, with AIMODified ProgramMING for New Sovereign Spectaculars and Brave Public Displays of Mutual Satisfaction in Performance Enhanced Role Plays.

    SMART Perfumed Garden Blooms Flower and Seed their Energies for a Great Synergy towards Singularity of Understanding the Great Game Purpose.

    Crikey, El Reg, wherever you're finding your info, is the Feed Network AAA Solid Gold.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Great stuff

      Classic AMFM, keep it coming.

      Didn't there once was a special AMFM Icon ? Bring back !

  5. Dom 3

    Debian? CentOS?

    Does Debian not figure? And I assume CentOS gets counted in the RHEL figures.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Sales figures

      Since neither Debian or CentOS sell any product, they wouldn't feature in graphs showing SALES.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Windows?

    yes, I know it's a Linux story, but having a few Windows lines in there would have added better context IMHO. Linux is sub-1% of the desktop....is it sub-1% in the server market too?

    1. ricegf2

      Not even close

      Linux' desktop share was about 5% in 2008 according to Microsoft - but I'm sure you'd never trust *those* guys! ;-)

      You can measure server share in three ways - revenue, units shipped, and installed base.

      In revenue, Microsoft gathers about 50% of the money, with Linux and Unix splitting 40% and leaving 10% for others. (You might think this makes Microsoft very expensive, given the stats below. Well... yes. ;-)

      Linux is pre-installed on about 60% of units shipped, compared to about 30% Windows and 10% others (including Unix).

      Linux' installed base (in any market) is typically somewhat higher than pre-installed units, as its free nature allows it to be added to hardware actually sold and shipped with Windows or another proprietary OS, or even bare. This is a big player in desktops, but fairly small in servers, since servers with Linux are the norm. In any event, it's not objectively measurable (many servers are not on the open Internet), so we'll call it 60%-30% to be kind to Microsoft.

      So... No, Linux is either well ahead of or just a bit behind and growing relative to Windows in the server market, depending on your favorite definition. In fact, Linux is either first or second in virtually every computing market (having recently jumped to second in smartphones, behind only Symbian).

      You'd almost think free software was the wave of the future. I do. :-D

  7. Dan P
    FAIL

    Erm, about that metaphor...

    Making like the space shuttle... er, the one that's being decommissioned next year and will no longer be taking off, that one?

    Just wondering. ;-)

  8. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge
    Welcome

    Virgin Child Soldiers Ubuntu Style

    Normal for Commander Shuttleworth are surely Space Cadets into Performing Free Phormonal and Polyamoral Sequencing ...... for Simply Smart XSSXXXX Virtual Machine Codes with Loads of Lodes and Nodes for Private Activation in Radical Fundamentalist Spheres of Influence and Interest/Piratical Sees/Conflicted Revolutionary Sight Programs.

    Does Commander Shuttleworth has a Live Master Pilot Test Program championing ITs Systems Drivers .... Who, by the way, coincidentally, are U? A Program that Plants One in CyberSpace Flight Control Centres, would be a Corker of a Future Programmed ProjectION. Full Spectrum AudioVisual Command with Alien Remote and Advanced Virtual Control Play Leverage.

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