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50 Places Linux is Running That You Might Not Expect
By It was not long ago when Microsoft Windows had a tight stranglehold on the operating system market. Walk into a Circuit City or Staples, it seemed, and virtually any computer you took home would be running the most current flavor of Windows. Ditto for computers ordered direct from a manufacturer. In the last decade, though, the operating system market has begun to change. Slightly more than 5% of all computers now run Mac, according to NetMarketShare.com. Linux is hovering just beneath 1% of the overall market share in operating systems. And although that might sound like a small number, Linux is far more than just a fringe OS. In fact, it's running in quite a few more places than you probably suspect. Below are fifty places Linux is running today in place of Windows or Mac. For easy reading, they are divided amongst government, home, business, and educational usage.
Government Users of Linux
Governments at all levels (national, state, federal and international) have opted to deploy Linux across their computer systems for a host of reasons. Some are purely technological, with the governments in question preferring the open-source benefits of the OS. Others are financial, as Linux is typically far less expensive than buying a license for Windows. Still others are political, as organizations like the World Trade Organization have actively pressured governments to shun Microsoft products. In any case, here are some of the governing bodies that now run Linux on their computers.
U.S. Department of Defense
According to Linux.com, the United States Department of Defense is the "single biggest install base for Red Hat Linux" in the world. Nor was it an unconscious choice, as Brigadier General Nick Justice, the Deputy Program Officer for the Army's Program Executive Office proclaims "open source software is part of the integrated network fabric which connects and enables our command and control system to work effectively, as people's lives depend on it." Justice went on to state that "when we rolled into Baghdad, we did it using open source", and that he was indeed Red Hat's "biggest customer."
U.S. Navy Submarine Fleet
FreeSoftwareMagazine.com reveals that "the US Navy nuclear submarine fleet is using GNU/Linux" as well.
The City of Munich, Germany
The city of Munich, Germany has "chosen to migrate its 14,000 desktops to a free Linux distribution, rather than a commercial version of the open source operating system" according to a 2005 ZD Net report. The distribution Munich chose was Debian, and is said to have "considered several alternatives before choosing Debian", settling on it ultimately because of price and the degree to which it could be customized to meet Munich's municipal computing needs. The German Foreign Office, as well as the city of Vienna, also opted to make the switch to Debian in 2005.
Spain
LWN.net maintains that Spain has long been the strongest supporter and user of Linux from a national government standpoint. Linux has spread rapidly throughout Spain since 2002, when the government of Extremadura actually created its own cutomized Linux distribution (called LinEx) based on Debian, using GNOME as its "default desktop environment." Since then, the government "gave away the product CDs at every opportunity -- in government offices, magazines and even daily newspapers" as part of a determined and ongoing effort to get LinEx out to everybody." By handing out the software for free and continuing to publicize its availability, Linux spread from Extremadura throughout the rest of Spain and remains widely used today.
Federal Aviation Administration
Few government users of Linux appear to be happier with their choice to switch than the United States Federal Aviation Administration. According to Wikipedia, the FAA announced in 2006 that it "had completed a migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux in one third of the scheduled time and saved 15 million dollars" in the process of doing so. Score it another big-time government client for the Red Hat distribution of Linux.
French Parliament
French Parliament opted in November 2006 to dump Windows in favor of Ubuntu Linux, according to ZD Net The move was part of a comprehensive shake-up in the software run on Parliament computers, resulting ultimately in "1,154 French parliamentary workstations running on Linux, with OpenOffice.org productivity software, the Firefox Web browser and an open-source e-mail client." Despite the training costs, Parliament officials named cost savings and technological superiority of open-source software for parliamentary purposes as reasons for the switch.
State-Owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
According to a 2005 InformationWeek report, the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China "decided to roll out Linux in all of its 20,000 retail branches." As the largest bank in all of China, the institution committed to buying "an unrestricted user license" as part of a full-blown integration of Linux "throughout its entire banking operations network" culminating in 2008. At the time, InformationWeek stated that this represented the largest deployment of Linux to date in the Chinese financial sector. Essentially, Linux became "the basis for its web server and a new terminal platform" at the bank.
Pakistani Schools & Colleges
In 2002, the government of Pakistan launched a Technology Resource Mobilization Unit to promote the spread of open-source software (including Linux) throughout that country. The unit (comprised of academics, businesspeople and government officials) has largely succeeded in educating computer users throughout Pakistan about what free software has to offer. As a result, Pakistan is using Linux in many of its public schools and colleges and plans to ultimately run it on all of its government computer systems. In countries like Pakistan, where little money is available for government investment in technology, Linux and other open source software is appealing from a cost perspective.
Cuba
Cuba, never a fan of capitalism or corporate enterprise, took the step of developing its own Linux distribution (called "Nova") to replace Microsoft Windows in February 2009. According toCarribean Net News, the switch to Linux was motivated not by technology or cost issues, but instead constituted "the latest front of the communist island's battle against what it views as U.S. hegemony." Nova was introduced during a conference held in the name of "technological sovereignty" and was touted as essential to Cuba's "desire to replace the Microsoft software running most of the island's computers." Evidently, Cuban officials feared that U.S. security agencies could access Microsoft software code and in the process discover secrets belonging to the Cuban government. Whether or not Cuba's switch to Linux has any practical effect on relations between the two countries is debateable, but they have been using Nova ever since.
Macedonia's Ministry of Education and Science
Ubuntu.com reported in November 2007 that every student in Macedonia would use computer workstations powered by Ubuntu Linux, as part of that country's "A Computer For Every Child" program. In total, more than 180,000 workstations were covered by the project, described as "one of the largest known thin client and desktop Linux deployments ever undertaken." Indeed, Macedonia's Minister for the Information Society dubbed it "the largest and most important education project undertaken in the 15-year history of the Republic of Macedonia." Under the agreement, 160,000 of the 180,000 workstations were to be virtual PC terminals, while the other 20,000 were to be stand-alone PCs, all of which accomodated one student each and ran the Ubuntu Linux OS.
U.S. Postal Service
The U.S. Postal Service is a textbook example of a once-avowed Windows loyalist switching to Linux for purely technical reasons. While the Postal Service ran Windows NT on its servers until the bitter end, they then switched to using over 900 Linux clusters spead throughout the country for use in sorting the nation's bulk mail. They use technology from Pacific Northwest Software, who proudly explains in-depth the work it has done in switching the Postal Service to a Linux-based infrastructure. Those interested are encouraged to check it out here.
U.S. Federal Courts
AAX.net explains that the U.S. Federal Courts rely on Linux for all manner of administrative tasks, including "case management, case tracking, finance and accounting, probation and pretrial services." Linux has been used by the courts since November of 2003, when PEC Solutions assisted in orchestrating a "migration of the Federal Judiciary to a Linux-based system."
Government of Mexico City
Wired.com reported in 2001 that the government of Mexico City had concluded that "they can no longer justify the ever rising cost of Microsoft Windows when the cost of Linux software is very low." In an interview with Wired, the city's technical coordinator, José Barberán, "announced plans to switch city computers to the Linux operating system and to use the money it saves to fund social welfare programs." At the end of the day, when faced with pressure to increase social spending, "cutting costs by moving to open-source software was a logical choice for the mayor."
Garden Grove, California
Perhaps the earliest governmental adopter of Linux on our list is Garden Grove, California, which made the switch all the way back in 1995, according to Linux Journal. Evidently, the city was in a cash crunch when it opted to give Linux a try, and found that it saved so much money that they later decided to roll out Linux across the city, including on some desktop systems.
Largo, Florida
A 2003 Linux.com article entitled "Largo Loves Linux More Than Ever" explains how the Floridian city came to rely so heavily on Linux software. After having such great success running city computers on Linux, Largo's municipal government soon thereafter was "talking about Linux-based terminals in all the city's police cars." To their credit, Linux.com remarked that Largo's system administrators (who are responsible for managing the city's Linux machines) were "the least harassed, least worried, calmest sysadmins we have ever met." Perhaps there is a correlation?
Czech Post
Perhaps taking a cue from the U.S. Postal Service, the Czech Republic's own post office successfully migrated to Linux in 2005, according to Europa.The chosen distribution of Linux (SuSe) now runs on "4,000 servers at 3,400 post offices across the country, as well as at 12,000 client terminals used by 20,000 employees." Once more, cost was a driving force behind a large state institution switching from Windows or other providers to free, open-source Linux.
Educational Users of Linux
Educational institutions, like businesses and government, have increasingly decided to roll out Linux on servers and desktop computers for their open-source and cost benefits. These institutions range from public schools (elementary, middle and high school) to colleges and post-graduate schools. Below are several of the most prominent educational establishments to have switched from Microsoft Windows to Linux.
Russian Schools
In 2007, the nation of Russia announced that all its schools would begin running Linux software. A BBC report on the matter stated that Russia's "schools formerly tended to run illegal copies of Microsoft operating systems", but that since Russia joined the WTO, that is no longer accepted practice. Therefore, rather than buy licenses for all the software it had been pirating, it opted to go with the free Linux operating system. While admitting that most teachers and students had no experience with Linux, Russia's education officials nevertheless felt that the transition would go well and that the software would suit the purposes of schools.
German Universities
ComputerWeekly.com reported in August 2007 that "around 560,000 German students plus thousands of staff at 33 German universities will now be supported by Linux systems from Novell." SuSe Linux Enterprise Desktop was the specific distribution chosen, evidently for the "more flexible IT architecture" that it provides "when compared to other proprietary software."
The Phillipines
The switch to Linux is said to be "forging an education revolution" in the Phillipines, according to ComputerWorld. As they explain, "after a successful deployment of 13,000 Fedora Linux systems from a government grant, plans are underway to roll out another 10,000 based on Ubuntu" in that country. Apparently, Linux reached popularity because of its lower installation and maintenance costs in the Phillippines in the wake of 1997's Asian financial crisis.
Georgia
Former Soviet state Georgia began "began running all its school computers and LTSP thin clients on Linux, mainly using Kubuntu, Ubuntu and stripped Fedora-based distros" back in 2004, according to Wikipedia. Add Georgia to the growing list of less-wealthy countries that opted to use Linux for cost reasons versus pay expensive licensing fees for Microsoft Windows.
The Indian State of Tamil Nadu
LinuxWatch.com told the story of how "after being put off by Microsoft's bundling tactics for academic users", the Indian state of Tamil Nadu decided instead to "distribute 100,000 Linux laptops to students there." The laptops were to be sold to students for $800, a "considerable markdown compared to retail value." While the government proposed to license Windows at $12 per copy, Microsoft stood firm at $57 per copy, prompting Tamil Nadu to go with Linux instead.
Switzerland Schools
Wikipedia also reports that Switzerland converted 9,000 of its computers to using Linux and OpenOffice.org's suite of office productivity tools in its Geneva district in September, 2008. As has been seen by the licensing fees other software companies charge, there is often a compelling financial incentive to use Linux instead.
Bolzano, Italy
The town of Balzano in Italy (with a student population of 16,000) reportedly switched to using a customized distribution of Linux across all its schools in 2005.
Kerela, India
Rediff.com reported in September 2006 that from now on, in Kerela, India, "nearly 1.5 million students in the 2,650 government and government-aided high schools in the state will no longer use the Windows platform for computer education. Instead, they have switched over to the free GNU/Linux software." Rather, they would now begin running Linux operating systems and accomplishing all word processing and spreadsheet tasks via OpenOffice.org software. An education official was quoted as saying ""we have decided that we will use only free software for computer education in Kerala schools" on the eve of a 56,000 teacher Linux training program.
One Laptop Per Child
The much-publicized One Laptop Per Child program was built around the OLPC XO-1, which, according to Wikipedia "is an inexpensive laptop running Linux, which will be distributed to millions of children as part of the One Laptop Per Child project, especially in developing countries." Here, again, the low cost of Linux was a major factor in its inclusion.
Indiana Schools
CRN.com revealed in August 2006 that "more than 20,000 Indiana students are now Linux-enabled under a state grant program to roll out low-cost, easy-to-manage workstations." The state's Affordable Classroom Computers for Every Secondary Student program rapidly grew from "24 high schools to 80 high schools" after it became clear that software costs per computer ($100 prior to the migration) could be cut down to $5 using Linux and other open-source software. Districts get to choose which distribution of Linux their schools will run and have considerable control over the implementation.
Business Users of Linux
Businesses, as well as governments, have slowly begun to realize the various benefits that Linux and open source software can provide. In fact, given that costs are more important to the decision making of businesses than governments, they arguably have an even greater incentive to check it out. Below are several businesses that have made the switch or begun making the switch from Windows to Linux.
Novell
Longtime software and services company Novell announced in 2006 that it was undergoing a company-wide migration from Windows to Linux on employee desktop computers. As of April of that year, roughly half of Novell's 5,000+ work force had migrated to Linux, with that figure expected to climb to 80% by November. It was a bold and sweeping change for such a large, established company, and it took over a year for the migration to take effect following its announcement in 2006.
Believe it or not, the gigantic, ever-growing cluster of servers that power Google's search and other apps runs Linux. Of course, in typical fashion, Google was not content to simply run an out of the box version on its own hardware. Intsead, the search giant had its engineers cook up a customized version of Ubuntu referred to within the company as "Goobuntu." Linux is also frequently used internally on desktop machines, beyond its use on Google servers.
IBM
In addition to doing development work on Linux itself, IBM is known to use it internally on desktops and servers. IBM also ran a TV ad campaign in 2006 called "IBM Supports Linux 100%." One of the commercials can be seen here. In the last decade, perhaps no larger company than IBM has contributed more to the success of Linux, both financially and developmentally.
Panasonic
Electronics giant Panasonic is another household name company to use Linux in powering some of its operations. Like several other firms on this list, Panasonic used Linux only after Windows NT proved woefully inadequate for what the company needed - voicemail systems, in this case. Rather than paying NT's expensive license fees, Panasonic's in-house developers created their own system incorporating Linux-based voicemail technology. Ultimately, the system they created was so successful that it grew to replace the Windows system completely, which has since been long discontinued.
Virgin America
Virgin America, a low-cost U.S. airline run by entrepreneurial big-shot Richard Branson, uses Linux to power its in-flight entertainment according to CrunchGear. The entertainment system (called RED) is powered by Red Hat and Fedora specifically, and was reportedly chosen because it is "very stable and agile." After four years of development, RED hit the airways as a rousing success.
Cisco
Cisco Systems, the computer networking and routing giant, switched to Linux after vowing to use Microsoft's Active Directory solution for its servers." Indeed, the deal was so celebrated that Cisco management dubbed them to be an "all Microsoft" company according to AAX.net. In an imfamous turn of events, however, Cisco's own IT staff could not get its network printign to work properly using Windows NT and were thus forced to switch to Linux, which has yet to cause similar problems to our knowledge.
ConocoPhillips
Never let it be said that Linux is a fringe operating system for inconsequential gizmos and gadgets. No stronger proof to the contrary exists that ConocoPhillips, which proudly uses Linux to power a massive (and massively important) cluster of servers aimed at exploring the earth for new sources of untapped oil. C-Net's News.com reported in depth on the machine, which, largely due to using Linux, reportedly "costs a tenth of the average price of a conventional supercomputer." Alan Huffman, then manager of Conoco's seismic imaging technology center, claimed that the machine was capable of performing 500 billion calculations in a second.
Omaha Steaks
Omaha Steaks, a popular catolog-oriented steak retailer, switched to open-source Linux in 2001, according to JavaWorld.com. While they had previously been running internally with IBM AS/400 computers, they now operate a cluster of Linux serves in-house that both runs its corporate website and is connected to the AS/400 system. JavaWorld explains in-depth how migrating to Linux at the server level helped Omaha Steaks expand the wildly popular gift aspect of its business by integrating consumer information and lowering costs. Advertisements for this mail order company can be found in the back of most up-scale home oriented magazines. They were running their internal systems on an IBM AS/400 and outsourced their Web site, but they wanted to tie the on-line ordering directly into the AS/400. A cluster of Linux servers now runs the Web site and connects to the AS/400.
Amazon
Online book and electronics retail behemoth Amazon.com is said to "use Linux in nearly every corner of its business", according to ZD Net. After Amazon "began to use Linux in 2000 for basic tasks", Linux began speading through the company "notably the company's database" system. A separate ZD Net post in 2001 referenced a document Amazon filed with the Securies & Exchange Commission stating that switching to Linux had saved the company $17 million. By 2004, it was reported that Amazon "had nine worldwide distribution centers with a total of 4.2 million square feet" and that essentially "everything that happens in them is driven by Linux.
Peugeot
European car maker Peugeot announced in 2007 that it was set to deploy up to 20,000 copies of Novell Desktop Linux and 2,500 copies of SuSe Linux Enterprise Server. eWeek reported that "unlike recent Novell Linux deals that were released with a great deal of fanfare, such as Novells recent sale, via Microsoft, to Wal-Mart, this deal appears to have been made solely on the Linux desktops own merits." IT represenatives from Peugot remarked that they were pleased to discover how well supported and user-friendly Linux was upon checking it out.
Wikipedia
Popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia is another staunch supporter of Linux, having switched to Ubunto in 2008 after a lengthy tenure using Red Hat and Fedora prior to that. Ars Technicaexplains that "Wikimedia's move to Ubuntu is part of an effort to simplify administration of the organization's 400 servers" and that the switch "could help increase the distribution's visibility in the Linux server market and demonstrate its viability in large-scale deployments." It was no small gig for Ubuntu, which now powers the servers that spit out up to 10 billion page views a month on Wikipedia.
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is another perhaps unexpected business user of Linux. A ComputerWorld.com report on how London's stock exchange was also "abandoning the failed Windows platform", it was stated that New York's exchange already used Linux to power its trading platform and furthermore that it "seems to be doing quite nicely." InformationWeek revealed in 2008 that it was Red Hat Enterprise Linux, specifically, that the NYSE ran on its trading platform.
Burlington Coat Factory
Burlington Coat Factory, a retailer with 280 individual stores across 42 states, run Linux in their distribution centers and "a few new stores", according to AAXNet.com. A full-fledged roll-out to all existing stores is underway, and 1,250 Dell computers with Linux pre-installed were evidently purchased "to support the effort" at transitioning fully from Microsoft Windows to Linux.
Raymour and Flannigan
NetworkComputing.com describes Raymour and Flannigan's transition to Linux as "a major transformation" for the Syracuse-based furniture retailer, who switched all its servers to Linux back in 2002. According to company management, "it was easier to put Linux, rather than another operating system, on the older 486-based machines" that were available early on at Raymour and Flannigan. While Linux requires some manual configuration, NetworkComputing says, the benefits have largely outweighed the costs.
Tommy Hilfiger
LinuxJournal.com wrote that fashion magnate Tommy Hilfiger "chose eOneGroup and Linux for its new e-business infrastructure" way back in 2001. Company representatives were quoted as saying that "we saved significantly on the time and expense of deploying this total infrastructure", as opposed to if another operating system provider had been chosen.
Toyota Motor Sales
AAX.Net reported years ago on a "30 dealer pilot roll-out" of a system using Linux to connect car dealerships to Toyota's factories. The system was a "web based system from the ground up, and will be handling 30 different functions including parts ordering, warranties, sales transactions and repairs." As the 30 dealer pilot was successful, Toyota promptly announced plans to roll out the Linux-based system to 1,200 other dealerships.
Travelocity
Travelocity (funny gnome guy and all) is yet another Internet business powered by Linux servers. According to NetworkWorld, Travelocity management cited their desire "to improve our flexibility and really decrease our time to market" as the chief reasons for choosing Linux over other alternatives. Management at Travelocity also admits to being "big fans of open source, from total cost of ownership and from the sharing/collaboration [creation processes], using tools developed by other people and having [easy access] to other people who have experience with them."
Home & Scientific Uses of Linux
Finally, Linux has also found homes in various home and scientific capacities. From video game systems to science labs, Linux is playing an even bigger role in consumer technology. Below are several noteworthy examples.
Sony Playstation 3
While Linux is not pre-installed on the PS3, it was designed to allow easy installation of it and Gamespot revealed in 2006 that "Terra Soft Solutions is now making Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 available for download for the PS3." Installing it requires a keyboard, USB cord and mouse, and for the user to "partition the PS3's drive into two partitions so that the GameOS and Linux can run on dual partitions."
Netbooks
Miniature laptops called Netbooks have become extremely popular in recent years, and often ship with minimalist distributions like Xandros or Linpus that are optimized to run efficiently using the limited resources Netbooks must use due to space and cost constraints.While Netbooks are still frequently sold with Microsoft Windows installed, they are shipped with Linux more than perhaps any other mass-market laptop around.
Some Dell Models
In recent years (particularly 2007-2008) distributions of Linux like Ubuntu have placed a higher than ever priority on user friendliness in efforts to capture some of the Windows market. Consequently, Dell and other mass-market PC manufacturers have taken to pre-loading Ubuntu and other distributions on their computers.
CERN
Cern uses Scientific Linux on a massive scale for mission-critical applications. FreeSoftwareMagazine, for instance, notes that Linux is powering the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider, a machine designed to do important subatomic research. CERN, it should also be noted, is where Tim Berners-Lee invented the hypertext link while working there in the 80's as an independent contractor. CERN also runs Linux on its 20,000 internal servers.
Internet Archive
Anyone who has ever used the Wayback Machine to peer at the past of a website has unwittingly been served information by a throng of x86 servers running Linux -- hundreds of them, in fact.
ASV Roboat
LinuxProMagazine.com reports that the ASV Roboat, a research craft designed to glean data about "the Pacific whale population in cooperation with the marine biology department of the Oregon State University", is apparently powered by Linux software. It is a considerable test of Linux's technological capabilities, as the craft is charged with "researching large geographic areas over long periods of time at low cost." The ASV Roboat can be seen in the video posted above.
IBM iDataPlex in Canada
Canada's largest supercomputer, the IBM iDataPlex (housed at the University of Toronto) is also powered by Linux. According to the Canadian Globe and Mail, the massive machine cost "$50-million to put together, and its brain takes up as much room as a warehouse full of refrigerators." Its tasks are many and demanding, including running "more than 300 trillion calculations a second, simulating the Earth's climate 100 years into the future in four days and helping researchers study cosmic background radiation."
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171 Comments
I have an issue with the remarks of 'el independent'. This is not a political platform, but a survey of places where Linux is used. Having visited Cuba and its universities in a professional capacity, I can appreciate the fact that the country has much more freedom of speech than American propaganda makes it to be.
Also, Linux is a perfect platform to circumvent censorship, and the students are doing just that. Even so, it has become evident to me that they generally prefer their "idiotic cadre of geriatric despots" as long as those despots make Cuba the best developed country in the region, their mothers don't starve and there is more than adequate health care.
You say Linux has "1% of the overall market share in operating systems". Perhaps this is the case with OEM installs but one can't know how many people buy a PC with Windows on it then (once/before it becomes infested with viruses) format Linux onto it...
NASA is a huge user of Linux. The Mars rovers run a lightweight version of Linux. Were it not for Linux one of them would have been DOA.
Did you miss Ernie Ball's Guitar Strings company? He is famous for his stick-it-to-Microsoft migration to Linux after the BSA thugs raided his office and he was fined for he usual handful of license discrepancies typical of offices worldwide. Ernie Ball company is like the founding father of linux migration.
The user share of 1% for Linux desktop comes from NetApplications. They don't tell were that number comes from (it's probably U.S. centric), and many believe that it's far from correct. After being published, the number was widely spread around the Internet by news sites, which didn't worry much about how the data was collected. Now people everywhere are echoing the 1% user share, despite the fact that it may not have much to do with the reality.
looks like Microsoft is getting spanked real good.
This is very true haydoni. Me and my entire family all bought pc's with win xp, they all now run Mepis
Thanks for this very interesting article. It's great to see Linux spreading so widely.
One quibble about a typo in one of the article's headings:
"Kerela, India" should be -- "Kerala"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala
Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India, and my Malayalam professor told us that it's not uncommon to see manual laborers relax during their lunch breaks by pulling out newspapers or other reading material.
Continental Airlines does too! I noticed that the last time I was flying with them and they had to reboot their in flight entertainment system. It's based on red hat.
Autozone uses opensuse
Jet Airways, India also uses linux for its flight entertainment system with LCD panels in front of each seat. I noticed it when my neighbour somehow managed to reboot his panel. There was good old tux sitting at the top of the panel while the scrolling lines kept flowing below.
Heard that LIC of India, did a big shift to Linux, to tune of several 1000s PCs.
I think all schools in the US and other country's should use Linux. Then kids would learn to like it and learn to use it so they put it on their home computers.
You can add "most 9-1-1 centers" to that list, too. When we offered all our customers the choice of running on Windows or Linux during our last platform migration - no difference in cost - over 90% of them opted for Linux.
And Venezuela??? Southamerica have some cases.
as far as i recall, ernie ball (manufacturer of guitar strings) is a linux shop.
http://news.cnet.com/Brazils-love-of-Linux/2009-1042_3-6245409.html
Don't forget about Brazil!
My Sharp 52 inch LCD(model number LCC5255U) runs BusyBox, a Linux distribution.
Telecommunications. Automated Voice Response. The company I work for has over 2500 Linux servers (mostly RHEL) located around the country doing this. Did you call in a vote for Dancing With The Stars? Did you make a flight reservation with United Airlines? Did you check your CitiCard balance? Did you order a Pay Per View movie from Direct TV? You were talking to a Linux box.
ONE MORE ussing Linux, my husband!!!
What about two of the greatest banks in Brazil (CEF - 180k desktop machines runing Debian until late 2011 - and Bank of Brazil - 90k desktop machines)? What about Petrobras? What about the government of Paraná state in south Brazil? What about the brazilian public schools? What about Brazil's government companies like Serpro and Dataprev? What about the companies that have signed the Brazilia protocol (and a annual IT budget of 1.7 million dollars?
There is much more Linux around than anyone can expect.
Distributions made in Spain http://espadistros.wordpress.com/
The web is in spanish but has links to Google Translations.
Radio Morena FM, A Região newspaper, Jupara Foundation and Verao.com use only Linux in all their operations since 2000. They belong to Rede Morena and are based in Itabuna (BA), Brazil.
FYI: Current model (slim) PS3's no longer can boot Linux, the feature has been removed.
It is difficult to know what to make of this list. Some will come as no surprise to those who have been following the Linux news. The list is rather pointless - for some applications, Linux is dominant. A supercomputer will probably use Linux. Servers for large networks, including the Internet, frequently use Linux. Embedded systems frequently use Linux. Windows workstations are frequently networked with Linux servers. Self-contained systems, performing a clearly defined function, and where security matters, are natural applications for Linux. Linux is also a natural choice for scientific applications. No news here.
What is of interest is where Linux is being used in what might be considered Windows territory. Munich is a prime example of a migration on an enormous scale. The big problem is always getting Windows off of the desktop. Users, even big users, are locked-in to Windows because of the closed nature of the software and proprietary formats. The need to exchange data with external organisations presents a major hindrance to the adoption of free and open formats and hence of free software. Another hindrance is the risk, both personal and corporate, of incurring the wrath of Microsoft.
What is disappointing is the use of Windows on ordinary PC's sold in shops that will be used for Internet browsing, e-mail, and simple office applications, where Linux could be used with every advantage, and no disadvantage, to the user. Likewise, the use of computers in education to train pupils in Microsoft products that will be obsolete before they leave school.
Add Hotmail, purchased in 1997 by Microsoft! Then, Hotmail ran 6,500 Linux and BSD servers, grew to 13,500, as MS execs thought about how to switch over to MS Server, through the new century!
12:1 server replacement costs prohibited any switch. Netstat shows some reporting to be MS Servers, but, any server can report as using any OS!
Since 2006, All MSN and all MS update services run behind 15,000 leased Akamai Linux Servers for security, safety.
All 400+ MS internal corporate network firewalls/routers are Aruba Linux units.
Microsoft's Linux Lab runs 400 Linux computers.
No wonder Steve Ballmer announced in May 2010 that Microsoft needs to "eat it's own (dog)food!". Intelligent management knows that "Form follows function" and there are applications that ONLY are done well in multi-user, parallel-processing environments, for FREE, like GNU/Linux, and the BSDs, and NOT in that EXPENSIVE, high maintenance, BSOD serial-processing Microsoft dog crap system!
Brazil federal laws changed in 2004 to require the use of Open Source Software in all government work, for transparency.
Munich adapted the city administration, all servers, and all 177 Council members, to Suse GNU/Linux in 2005.
In all these cases, the stabillity, security, competency, transparency, and the ability for local programming through Open Source software management at huge savings in IT costs, rule the day!
Good governments save big by using Free, Open Source Software!
For people in Brazil, eltectropaulo (AES) runs Linux for all their servers!
I read that the Hadron Super Colider runs on Linux.
So does TiVo, and Roku.
The Sri Lankan government has started encouraging the the public and private sector to migrate to Free and Open Source software also.
You should check top500.org, linux runs the majority of those machines. ..
Cathay Pacific - inflight entertainment, looks like SuSE Linux (noticed it when they had to reboot :-))
JetBlue runs Linux since 2000 for DirectTV inflight service when I traveled on it. All the screens rebooted when the APU was connected at the gate.
The public transportation system serving almost a million inhabitants in and around Oslo uses Debian Linux servers for its real-time display system that shows when to expect subways, buses, and streetcars all aaround the city and quite a bit beyond. It also displays information about incidents that affect the traffic, which has been quite often this winter ...
The game systems sitting at the tables in McDonalds also run Linux. I watched one boot up recently: standard grub process, running a specialized distro built on a 2.6.24 kernel, if I recall correctly.
Northwest Airlines uses Linux on its onboard flights for the inflight movies/music. I know this because of when mine crashed and rebooted during a flight to Hawaii I saw the penguin while it was booting.
Just to correct your statement "just beneath 1% of the overall market share in operating systems". You are confusing the issue of desktop operating systems and server operating systems. Linux is a major force on the server operating systems - for example more than 60% of web servers run Linux. It is not easy to determine how many companies run Linux on the server and in the cloud. The official number of server sales in 2007 put Linux at 12% and Windows at 38% - this figure does not include any free versions of Linux and just for the record our company runs 80% of our servers on Linux and we only use free versions of Linux thus our figures will not show on the official stats.
The facts are:
90% of the world's fastest computers run Linux and 1% run Windows.
90% of the world's desktops run Windows and 1% run Linux.
If the above statement sounds wrong to you check out the following link:
http://www.top500.org/stats/list/34/osfam
el independent
Nothing to do with the US embargo or anything? Oh and economic hell hole hmmm sub prime, BearStearns or Lehman Brothers anyone, not to mention Enron :?
The City of Mississauga, just outside Toronto Ontario, switched to Linux in around 2007-8.
I enjoy to see that ! héhé
This is so smooth to use !
With Linux you know what you do.
It's simple way and base of secure systems.
Seb from France ;-)
Good article, some comments are funny - Believe it or not, the gigantic Google is using Linux.
Logical choice, they won't pay license to MS for more than 600.000 servers, actually Google is always admitting that they power has been built on linux.
Not mentioned, more linux web servers on internet than Micro$oft
Banco do Brasil S.A. (Bank of Brazil S.A.) is the largest case of Linux in Latin America!
Lowe's hardware stores - their POS and catalog (end user desktops) are running KDE and a custom GNU/Linux os.
humans-enabled.com
Mr. Lube (http://www.mrlube.com/), a chain of roll-thru oil change stations, uses Ubuntu in their service bays for POS and customer history.
Thomson Airways uses Linux in flight entertainment
METRO hypermarket Morocco are using Red Hat too
Indiana Schools?!?! Wow, I'm impressed, thought there was a typo that should have read "India". Well that's one progressive thing about my state.
Add NASA's Mission Control in Houston.
You have missed Weta digital, The Lord of the rings film studio in wellington, New zealand.
With the way things are going Linux is becoming more popular, and of course getting easier to use. I've been using Ubuntu over a year, and I been able to do more with it, and runn more smoothly than with running windows. Protecting the other 3 Windows computers with it, running a file server, and media server. It's great. SO it takes a little bit of effort to get everything running like you would want it, but that is just the thing it's open. You aren't completely locked, and limited to how you want things to run.
I even sold my laptop with Linux on it to my best friend. He saw it run with Windows &, and with Ubuntu. He was really impressed with Ubuntu. He's had it for a while, and still likes it.
Abbott hematology analyzers run RHEL, they migrated from lynx when they upgraded analyzer models
Very good articles but there will be many more places and users for LInux.......I love this OS for its Stability and Robustness.. and ALso the most important the Security......And ease to operate it.......... I feel proud to use linux................
If anti piracy laws are enforced and people forced to pay for propriety software then they will show patience to know linux. Then it will be the OS installed in most PCs.
Subtract 1 from this list. Sony no longer allows Linux on PS3.
Don't forget the UK government is looking into (if not already) dumping Winblows for Linux.
I myself prefer OpenSuSE, but have used CentOS, Ubuntu and Fedora.
All are great.
And to those that say you can't game in Linux, I say nay. I'm currently running Fallout 3, Quake 4, Heroes of might and Magic 5, Starcraft 2 (Beta is over though :( Can't wait for game to come out! :D), Warcraft 3, Warzone 2100 (Linux version), Heroes of Newerth, Savage, etc etc. The list goes on. Most of those games I run in Wine, and most of the time they run better, if not just as well as in Windows. In Homm5, running Windows the game would get so choppy that it would truly be borderline unplayable. In Linux? No issues.
Cheers
Don't forget the UK government is looking into (if not already) dumping Winblows for Linux.
I myself prefer OpenSuSE, but have used CentOS, Ubuntu and Fedora.
All are great.
And to those that say you can't game in Linux, I say nay. I'm currently running Fallout 3, Quake 4, Heroes of might and Magic 5, Starcraft 2 (Beta is over though :( Can't wait for game to come out! :D), Warcraft 3, Warzone 2100 (Linux version), Heroes of Newerth, Savage, etc etc. The list goes on. Most of those games I run in Wine, and most of the time they run better, if not just as well as in Windows. In Homm5, running Windows the game would get so choppy that it would truly be borderline unplayable. In Linux? No issues.
Cheers
Large network of cooperative COOP also uses
Linux in São Paulo, Brazil
Interesting :)
I think FIAT all so use Linux in the production of cars.
Sixt Car Rental Service also uses Linux
Lattelecom, Latvias largest phone, internet company is running Linux in their interactive TV through internet boxes. Though helpdesk for their internet is not so Linux users friendly.
I think the Surete also use linux, debian, if memory serves.
So the proposed appearance of a black hole will be when Linux on LHC segfaults, lol. Thank God they didn't install Ubuntu!
Adding to Padma's comment - McDonald's also use Ubuntu for the LCD/Plasma menus in their restaurants. Was at Crown Casino in Melbourne (Australia) getting a burger and saw the reboot :-)
What's with all these people seeing a reboot? I sure as heck never see reboots on my linux-based laptops unless I am switching from the beta I am testing to the stable version. PCLinuxOS, by the way.
The good old stable TomTom GPS in my car, that I bought several years ago, run on top of Linux.
I'm not at liberty to name companies, but a large printer manufacturer is using Linux in their printers to control all management functions and provide a web interface to computers on the LAN. A company specializing in automated traffic cameras uses embedded Linux. A large credit reporting agency runs Linux on their mainframe hardware. At least two insurance companies and three large banks use Linux for internal servers, and many of their web-facing systems are migrating to Linux.
Linux is not so much about a cost savings of the software (a RHEL license costs as much as a Windows license) but about reliabilty, flexibility, and transparency. Linux gets its foot in the door through an internal server application, then spreads throughout the company as one department brags about server uptime to another department.
All the servers and ATMs of Kotak Mahindra Bank in India is running on Linux.
I am using only Linux at my home for all my activities, even my son's most loved game PRINCE OF PERSIA is running in a DOS box of Debian. In fact, he himself installed the Linux system at my home, at his age of 9.
I believe the French police and the German train operator Deutsche Bahn can also be added to the list.
Behind the learning of GNU/Linux in educational field of Kerala, a beautiful 100% literate state in India, is none other than IT@School Project under the General Education Department.
Rythm and Hues
Pixar (nope not mac anymore)
Disney
DreamWorks
90% of pages served are served by Linux and Apache
Just to clarify. The space shuttles flight computers do not use Linux. They run AP101/S GPUs to control the internal shuttle systems. The Mission Control Centers use DEC-Alpha 64-bit systems. I worked on both contracts.
Most of the laptops used on-board during missions are running Windows. I suspect one may run Linux, but I don't know that. On the Space Station, I suspect Linux may be used, but I don't believe it is for the flight control systems there either. Sadly, when those systems were being designed, Linux needed another 5+ yrs to mature.
a friend of mine said Urban Outfitters uses openSUSE & a customized firefox for their sales terminals
In case anyone makes it this far in the comments...
I question the 5% and 1% figures too. My website stats (I run a bunch of 'em) show M$ around 85%, Linux varieties around 4% and MacOS about 10%.
Fact: you can accomplish AYTHING with FOSS that can be done in Microsoft technologies. Dot Net is used by many businesses, a big reason is that they can hire dragger-and-dropper programmers, instead of people who know their code from the inside out. If you can create a form in Access, you can build an app in Visual Studio, and in either case not have a clue what's going on behind the scenes (or how to troubleshoot at code level).
LOWE's HARDWARE uses Linux.
I think it's RedHat Enterprise variant with a KDE environment. I've seen it on the Point of Sales systems. It's why I don't shop at Home Depot anymore.
In fact I am pretty sure they built there own distro on RedHat called Lowe's Linux.
London Stock Exchange:
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/open-source-business/news/...
I don't know if it's part of the new Airbus fleet as they are selling it by default right now but I can say that I've been A320s of Avianca (that'd be in colombia) and they have an entertainment system built on GNU/Linux.... the boot process can be seen when you are getting off the plane after a trip (it's booting for the following trip, I guess).
Samsung TVs run embedded Linux!
Mexican bank Bancomer runs Suse on its desktops.
Banco Caixa Econômica Federal ( a Brazil´s bank ) also uses Linux.
Actually, the ps3 no longer supports linuix...
Note that Turkey has its own government-funded Linux distro called Pardus.
http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/
What a great article! This is one of the best articles I've seen lately that cover the usage of Linux in the real world. Thank you and I hope to see more like this. This is just proof that Linux IS a replacement for Windows. You need some time, patience, and desire to learn something besides same ol Windows.
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another area worth mentioning: all of the assembly line, warehousing, supply - chain management industrial companies. they trust and rely on embedded ARM Linux.
Government of Indonesia has in early 2010 officially launched conversion to opensource software program to replace proprietary OSes used in all workstations equipping national goverment and local government offices throughout Indonesia. It is targeted that by 2012 all of government offices workstation would already use opensource software. Even at this moment,some goverment office has already made conversion to OSS,one of them is Ministry of Finance, some municipality has also made conversion to OSS. Main reason for the conversion program is cost cutting, it is said that if the conversion program succeed, the government could save 400 billion USD of licensing cost.
The most popularly used distro in Indonesia is Ubuntu, we even got our own version of Linux derived from Ubuntu called BlankOn (pronounced as blang-kon,name of Javanese traditional hat),developed by an independent group, it is become more and more popular beside the Ubuntu it derives from. In 2004 the Ministry of Communication and Information together with Ministry of Research and Technology, launched their own version of Fedora called IGOS (Indonesia Go Open Source).
LG HDTVs run linux and other GPL SW.
Over 20 000 students using just OpinSys Linux in Finland. They are not the only students using Linux at schools and universities. Many people in Mobile Phone company Nokia is also using Linux-desktops.
These north European Stock Exchange are using Linux: Helsinki (Finland), Stockholm (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), Reykjavik (Iceland). Tallin (Estonia), Riga (Latvia) and Vilna (Lithuania). The change the system in 8th of Feb 2010. New system is called Inet. It's ten times more powerfull than the previous Saxess.
K & M Service and Development - been using linux since Red Hat 7, now using Ubuntu 10.04
Good OS, better community support structure!
:-)
I heard that US Navy was using Yellow Dog on their servers. Actually they had a contract with Lockheed ....
http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/pipermail/yellowdog-announce/2003-August/...
i hope that you do realize that vienna is in austria and not in germany.
I sure hope that none of the Winblows users decide to come up with a list of 4950 places where you can find their OS to demonstrate their 99% of the marketshare. Would be a long, painful read...
This clearly shows that LINUX has conker the WORLD. Scalability and Freedom is the philosophy of Opens Source. So these will be unbeatable for the lifetime.................
Nova Linux? Doesn't that mean no go in their local language?
Nothing spectacular. Especially data centers you can easily assume someone runs Linux. The remarkable locations Linux runs in are, for example,
aircraft (you posted this), vending machines and reverse vending machiens (container deposit; "Flaschenpfand" in Germany), in-store tevlision-like or multimedial/touchscreen advertisement panels...
I have a hard time imagining anyone being surprised that Google runs Linux. In the first place, they're famous for it, and in the second place, their line of business is pretty much a textbook example of the kind of thing you really *can't* do very well without some kind of Unix-like OS.
And anyone who is surprised that Novell uses Linux must have been living under a rock throughout the entire SCO debacle. The connection between Novell and Linux has only been in the news perhaps eighty or ninety gazillion jillion hillion dillion fillion billion times in the last year and a half...
US Submarines use a plethora of OS's: Red Hat, YellowDog, HPUX (HP's Unix) and Windows on their systems. Lockheed Martin is just one supplier of their hardware/software packages. It also depends on which submarine and class in particular you are talking about.
hope china goverment use the linux instead of ms xp just like cube
California lottery machines also run some flavor of linux. I couldn't tell which, but I used to notice the familiar penguin when powering up every morning.
cabot solutions also using Linux and open source tools for development.
www.cabotsolutions.com
Gujarat The state of India is also set all school with linux ...
Life Insurance Corporation India use RHL
Its a pity the latest Firmware update to the PS3 removes the option to install linux on the PS3!
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/03/29/ps3-firmware-3-21-coming-april-1st/
Behind the learning of GNU/Linux in educational field of Kerala, a beautiful 100% literate state in India, is none other than IT@School Project under the General Education Department.
Wait and see in coming years in KERALA education through changing platform to opensource in HIGHER SECONDARY also !!! Hope no proprietory MAPHIYA sabotage IT
Tambien en la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores
This year a total of 4.5 lakh Matriculation school children done their computer practicals in Linux platform
General Electric (GE) human tomographs run on SUSE.
There is almost no linux in russian schools.
:(
Wikipedia switched to UbuntU in 2008, not UbuntO.
Being an ex-UbuntO user myself, now using Ubuntu, i cant help notice it.
Interesting read regardless.
That's awesome man.
ActionTarget (make large training equipment for Governments, militaries, police forces, etc) Uses almost all Linux internally too.
In section china, the photo of Chinabank is a bank is Philippines.
see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinabank
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_Commercial_Bank_of_China
In México City the government DOESN'T EVEN KNOWS about free software, all the community labs are running windows, they buyed thousands of Vista crap. I'll document this more later, but i think Southamerica deserves much better than México City (*my city*, by the way) being mentioned in the list. Thanks
The London Stock Exchange recently moved to Linux.
In Venezuela:
- Fundacomunal
- Seniat
- Fundayacucho
- Foncrei
- PDVSA
- Christel House
- UNEFA
- Ministerio del Ambiente
- Y muchisimos mas (SIN CONTAR PRIVADOS que no puedo nombrar por confidencialidad)
I don't understand the point of this post. 90% of companies use Linux if they have a website.
While JPMorganChase still has a massive Windows infrastructure any UNIXish systems going forward will either run AIX (for higher-end hardware) or Linux (on the less-than-high-end). The current Linux server base is thousands of servers and sure to grow.
SBB railways ticket machines in all their railway stations run Linux.
Had this months subscription of Linux For You mag and it says Carnation, India's one biggest chain for car modification, repairs and parts also runs customized RHEL on their host of desktops and cluster of servers running SAP and CRM.
The Visual Effects studio " Rhythm and Hues" uses Linux to render 3d/live animation for movies such as 'the golden compass' , Evan Almighty , Mummy 3, Alvin and the CHipmunks , Night at the museum etc .
You're forgetting the embedded market. You can hardly get ePaper displays that don't run Linux, e.g. Kindle, Nook, iRex, etc.
Moreover, android runs on 100 of different phone models. Toys (Meccano's Spykee), Phones by SNOM, etc. My Philips TV also came with a GPL licence.
And don't forget to mention that google runs Linux for search and many other things. Akamai has also been a big user.
This is just more proof that linux will eventually take over the computer market. It is coming, slowly, but it seems to be building up speed.
I use a few Linux distros including Slackware,Sabayon and Mepis...they are all just wonderful...
What about NASA? The robots in Mars, near the Sun and around the Earth are using highly customized versions of *nix
They missed Venezuela. To use Linux is officially a central government policy at the moment
This is the Venezuelan distro called Canaima http://canaima.softwarelibre.gob.ve
Skyline DMS Signs run a custom rolled Linux
http://www.skylineproducts.com/html/dynamicmessagesigns.html
NASA. NASA has been using Linux since the very early days around 1993.
AT&T uses Linux for all sorts of things, but mostly things that a customer would not interface with. These are back end systems used to glue together systemA with systemB with systemC. There is an EU-mandated email reporting system that runs 100% on Linux but there are thousands and thousands of Linux servers used inside AT&T.
great news for the linux user
U Zasavji je ene pet Linux mašin, pa dva trakturja.
Private schools, such as Wilford Woodruff Academy, in Winter Park Florida, runs GNU/Linux on all student computers, and the servers (since 2005).
I know, because, as one of the Linux Enthusiasts And Professionals - Central Florida, we installed, and support, the network(s). Check out our linux Installfests, lectures, mail lists, at http://leap-cf.org
A few PABXs are using Linux. The Aastra MX-ONE (formerly Ericsson MD-110) uses SLES. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise is based on Linux (not sure of flavour). I'm sure there's others (I suspect Mitel does).
Lowe's uses Linux for their point-of-sale machines (or at least a system with Firefox and an old-looking KDE, maybe 2.x - don't know for sure about the kernel).
I'm just a customer, but the customized KDE desktop caught my eye.
... and finally: historically silicon chips have all been designed on some flavour of Unix; in the last 5 years pretty well everyone has migrated to running their EDA software on Linux.
Oh yes! I forgot to cite Continental Airlines fight entertainement system. I saw it from NY to Sao Paulo.
Arrgh, typo, I meant to shout ANYTHING ;-)
Tha Andre Larochelle's network running on Linux too!
Linux runs at:
- Renault and McLaren supercomputers for air drag
resistance simulations and CAD desinging and
modelling,
- Boeing airoplane CAD-CAM designing and air flow
simulations,
- USA army for whole variety of tasks...
- at Polish parliament offices, at police offices..
- Many embended systems Lantronix print servers, Netgear routers,
printers..
- Many Point of Sell systems.. USA, Poland, Gemany.. many others..
-Top 500 supercomputers are Linux powered.
....list is very, very long.. much more then 50 positions :)
London Underground ticked system runs Linux - 3 milions commuters per day !
In Mexico, in the International Airport, they use Linux in Customs.
Facebook: http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/06/18/the-software-behind-facebook/
Sony deprecated Linux in the PlayStation.
It seems that people were buying the powerful consoles to build clusters.
Talking about clusters, you should mention that 455 of the 500 top supercomputers in the world run Linux:
http://www.top500.org/stats/list/35/osfam
Malaysian Government has been using Linux and other Open Source application since 2002.
See http://www.oscc.org.my//content/view/177/183/
What a great article! This is one of the best articles I've seen lately that cover the usage of Linux in the real world. Thank you and I hope to see more like this. This is just proof that Linux IS a replacement for Windows. You need some time, patience, and desire to learn something besides same ol Windows.
you forget Turkey government !, Pardus Linux is a creation of the Technologie institue of Turkey
Yeah !
Linux rocks
And
Use Turkey goverment's city bus.
http://linuxogrenmekistiyorum.com/2009/11/13/linux-ve-iett/
GCNlive.com runs all of it archives, live streams and website from linux servers.
This was done not only for cost but mostly because of stability and reliability.
more than 5 years have passed with more than 45 streams running 24/7/365 and not a single issue.
The photo used for the German University is Piazza Unita' in Trieste (Italy)
Nearly all of the computers on the Top 500 list of the most powerful computers on the planet operate under Linux.
Add Delta Airlines along side Virgin America. Delta's in-flight system also uses Linux. I had a total geek moment the first time I found that out.
Calling Windows "a failed OS" indicates that the software they were trying to run on the OS was poorly written, NOT the OS itself. Windows proper, the kernel and user space portions, are incredibly well-written. Blame the programmers who don't know how to write drivers, don't know how to leverage Winsock2 properly for client/server programs, and generally don't understand the APIs they are using to develop applications. None of which is Microsoft's fault but the fault of programmers who don't know how to author real software for the OS - Microsoft frequently gets wrongfully blamed. The ONLY things that people can fault Microsoft on is the lack of an apt-like system for installing and updating software, MSI, Fusion, and WinSxS (Microsoft's "solution" for "DLL hell").
Linux is great as a server OS and it is the one area where it shines brightest. With the exception of the education examples, most of the entries in this article are probably running Linux on a server rack, NOT on user desktops. Most user-space open source applications of any worth tend to be ported to all platforms, including Windows, and frankly aren't generally that great but usually get the job done. In addition, Windows is the primary target OS for proprietary drivers, which basically means that more consumer hardware works with Windows than Linux - a fact that any Linux advocate will willingly agree with. Support for Linux is getting better as the user base of Linux grows and Ubuntu has helped push Linux further onto the desktop than ANY other distro out there. However, Linux as a desktop OS still has a LONG way to go before it can truly compete.
Mac, a bastardized *BSD port, is a sad, weak, and very expensive platform. I work with Mac OS X Servers all day long and they fall apart at the drop of a hat when trying to do anything. The server GUI is horrible and the command-line I'm used to with Linux doesn't exist. Whatever the reason they are dropping their XServe line of products, it is the SMARTEST thing they have ever done - thank you! Maybe we can now get some Linux servers in place and get some real work done. Apple talks a big game but, when it comes to enterprise usability and performance, they can't handle the load. In addition, everyone I know uses Mac for their desktop but I constantly hear how the OS freezes on them (Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard - doesn't matter) and requires frequent rebooting - how is that ANY better than Windows? The nearest "Apple Care" store is three hours away and local technical support is hard to find.
Anyway, it all boils down to knowing how to use the software you work with and knowing how to use Google when there are problems. Each piece of software (including Linux) has its issues and most people post workarounds to those issues so that they can be found by Google. Except for Mac XServe problems, which are impossible to find search results for.
I frequently see quotes that Linux market share is about 1%. Where does this statistic come from... I look at the number of web servers on the internet that are running Linux. I look at the number of phones running Android. The number of small routers (linksys, dlink, netgear etc.) that frequently use a linux core. VMware ESX boxes (a customized linux core), etc. etc. Most of China's government is supposed to be using Linux. Many US military organization are running Linux. Is it really possible with all this that MacOS has five times the installed based? Unless we include iPod/iPhones, I find that hard to imagine.
Besides which, there are a number of free versions of Linux, so it is not like you can count on retail sales to determine installed base... I often wonder if the assumed 95% rate of piracy of Windows in China and India allow the stats to report nearly 2 billion seats of windows.
I am still baffled by a 1% market share of Linux. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Thanks
yeah, I agree, this 1% thing sounds strange...
there must be a better explanation.
Sure would like to understand more about the issue...
Regarding Germany universities, the photo is not from Germany at all: it is the Piazza Unità in Trieste, Italy (you can also spot the italian flag on the top of the building, by the way).
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Orissa Primary Schools runs on Suse Linux
Please someone tell me in Maharashtra which companies are using linux operating system ?
It´s quite funny to see how many uses Linux has that nobody knows about. For example: I´m a frequent KLM flyer (Dutch Airline) and every plane i´ve been on (I fly about once every 3 months) uses a Linux distro to control the cabin, to do the passenger count, to turn on and off the crew speaker system. I was impressed. They don´t trust proprietary software enough to use on a plane do they? :P
Weta digital - new zealand (lord of the rings, king kong, avatar...)
ILM california - (almost every movie with digital effects until the late 90's)
PDI dreamworks
Pixar
Disney
Sony imageworks
Digital domain
Ryhtm and hues
Framestore cfc, double negative, mpc, cinesite (harry potter, batman ect...)
Animal logic (happy feet, owls of gahool)
Rising Sun pictures
And many many many other highend visual effects and CGI studios.
I'm afraid about all those OS's security. Hope the best for them.
I'm afraid about all those OS's security. Hope the best for them.
The picture below German Universities corresponds to an Italian city called Trieste (Piazza Unitá)!
http://www.techsonhandstore.com -
I was not aware that the fleet ships would be using linux. I thought they had different operating systems for the military.
Pakistan Telecommunication Department is using Linux and other telecom companies too. Almost every bank of Pakistan is using Linux.
YOU HAVE MISSED MANY PLACES...
Great Article on Linux Usage....I too using linux on my laptop. Ubuntu is a excellent Linux OS to start with....
Can someone help me out with some enterprises names in Argentina and Chile running on Linux/Red Hat Linux?
Can someone help me out with some enterprises names in Argentina and Chile running on Linux/Red Hat Linux?
Space Shuttle use a (probably fine tuned) Fedora distribution.
Erm did seem a very linux biased list, the one about the PS3 is obsurd reason.
Most large corporations use all many of OS's from windows to linux to Unix and As400 and of course mainframes.
And obviously the more financial contraints areas of the world are going to prefer it.
From my experience in a large corporate infrastructure the actual cost savings can be minimal due to the requirement of full support from redhat or other vendors.
Most Linux migrations i personally see are from the Unix sector aka HPUX/AIX etc this allows them to utilise cheap intel/amd platforms while still using ports of there old applications.
Russian schools? Haha. I don't believe it
there are so many variants of LINUX , i once was a fan of Red Hat 9.0 , i wish i explored it more, but stopped using it in late 2005. If there was one unified flavor of Linux, i would buy it right now, and i mean right now. I wish there was more driver support and hardware support and more games on linux/unix/solaris. At the same time what annoys me, i grew up with Windows. But who knows what future holds, perhaps those in some other dimension still use computers like we do and have OS on them, but who knows may be not what we know as Windows environment + GUI, hence perhaps something else, AKA say for example Linux. I think that i will have to do something and relearn everything and start from ZERO and convert to Linux and become bi lingual in OS department. I wish i had a fully functional Linux on my PC, how about Linux Red Hat 10.0 ? , i wish one day somebody comes up with it! cheers
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