Desktop Linux Gains Share in Recent Months - hansontruckly

Linux's prospects as a desktop OS have long been a topic of sulfurous deliberate, with about arguing that it wish never surpass 1 per centum of the market while others–including yours truly–countering that it already has.

In this increasingly mobile era, it's not clear there's much point to such debates anymore. The topic has also become a tired one, mostly because information technology can never really be conclusively settled without sales statistics or other relatively definitive metrics to leaven the extent of Linux's desktop use.

Upright last week, however, search firm Net Applications–which has been behind many an of those "1 percentage" reports–published new information suggesting that Linux's usage happening the desktop has jumped in recent months.

Questions of desktop dominance aside, it's an interesting sign of changing times.

From 0.97 to 1.41 Percent

Net Applications is a frequently cited source of market share data about Web browsers, operating systems, hunt engines, and more. To cod that data, the ship's company studies visitors to its network of HitsLink Analytics and SharePost clients, which number more than 40,000 websites around the globe.

What's particularly interesting in the context of Linux is the data Net Applications just reported for December 2011. Specifically, the company's NetMarketShare avail reported that Linux accounted for a full 1.41 percentage of the market for that calendar month, following a steady step-up that began in August 2011.

Later dipping to 0.97 percent in July, Linux rose to 1.07 percent in August, 1.11 percent in Sept, 1.19 percent in October, and 1.31 percent in November, Cyberspace Applications reports, followed by the new high of 1.41 pct last calendar month.

More Than a Quarter

That May still be a very small figure–smaller even than the 6.36 percentage held by Apple's Mac in December, accordant to Meshwork Applications–but in that respect's no denying IT's a jolly big jump from 1 per centum.

It also begins to fall more in line with data from other sources. W3Counter, for instance, puts non-Android Linux at 1.64 percent in December.

Wikimedia's Traffic Analysis Report for last October pegged Linux at 3.48 percent, while news program site The H–which also reported along the new Net Applications data–noted that Linux users right away describe for 25.36 percentage of its personal traffic.

The Sky's the Limit

Now, I have no intention of making whatever "Year of Linux on the Desktop" claims, in particular given the fading importance of the old notions of screen background potency anyway.

Still, I do think it's exciting to see this recent uptick. Distributions such American Samoa Ubuntu and Linux Mint are making giant strides on the background and beyond–not to credit Linux's ongoing success on moveable devices and servers.