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Originally Posted by Andrew H.
Wow, talk about moving the goalposts!
First of all, it wasn't 10 years ago - as recently as 2009, Linux proponents were making big claims (30%+ marketshare) for Linux on netbooks/nettops.
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OK, I will admit there are still some calling for the Year of the Linux Desktop. However, I will note that netbooks are not desktops.
I don't see it as an issue of moving goalposts so much as a recognition that the old field's deteriorating, so it's time to move the game to the new ballpark down the street. But à chacun son goût.
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This has been a miserable failure, and it is not ameliorated by the fact that your toaster or microwave or DVD player or other electronic device uses Linux to run.
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Why not? The fact remains that more and more of our computing tasks are moving to mobile devices -- devices where Linux and iOS dominate and where Windows hasn't even made a splash. Tablet sales are
eating into the PC market. Apple has become the
biggest computer manufacturer on the planet. Microsoft's revenues, which
began declining in '09 are
down by double digits again this year. Desktops aren't even an interesting market anymore.
I simply propose that the significant question is no longer, "How many desktops does Linux run?" but "How much of the world's consumer computing does it handle?" Given the market trends of the past five years, I'd rather be Apple than Microsoft. And I'd rather be Linux than Windows.