Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gartner Hypnosis: Pretending Android and Linux Are Totally Separate

Tux in money
Should Linux too bribe Gartner to say nice things?



Summary: Gartner has found artistic new ways to argue that Linux in declining while it is in fact gaining at tremendous rates

STATISTICS can be gathered and presented to show just about anything. It depends on what is shown, how data gets classified, what population is inquired, and a variety of other factors. To quote figures from a few days ago, Google claims to be activating 100,000 Android/Linux devices every day. Good for Linux, right?



The Gartner Group's history of hatred for Linux is understandable. Free software does not pay Gartner's bills and Gartner's business model is the selling of data and reports, which clients are ordering with a clear agenda in mind -- an agenda that Gartner needs to respect if it is to be paid. They can lie without exactly lying by choosing improper methods and data.

For those who want to know more about the Gartner Group, we have a Wiki page dedicated to it. We sometimes call it the "Gangster Group" because it colludes with clients, whereas free software supporters typically value trust more than they value quick cash.

“Analysts sell out - that’s their business model… But they are very concerned that they never look like they are selling out, so that makes them very prickly to work with.”

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]



Earlier in the week we found Novell bragging that, having paid the infamous "analyst tax", it is now seen by Gartner as worthy of recommendation. Gartner has already been sued over its practices when it comes to the Magic Quadrant, but Novell takes pride in it.

Novell today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2010 Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)*.

The Gartner Security Information and Event Management Magic Quadrant was created based on research conducted by analysts Mark Nicolett and Kelly M. Kavanagh. According to the report, "The SIEM market is defined by the customer's need to analyze security event data in real time for internal and external threat management, and to collect, store, analyze and report on log data for regulatory compliance and forensics."


Novell brags about it in its PR blog too. It's the same superficial coverage one ought to expect from PR people; they got their money's worth.

It brings us to the item which actually concerns us the most. What's wrong with the following new headline?

"Gartner: Android leapfrogs Linux and Windows Mobile"

That's right, Gartner has decided that Android and Linux are completely separate. We'll come to its pathetic excuse later on, but first we present some responses from Linux Today readers. Just quoting in serial order we have:

“What junk reporting by Gartner (again) is this? Android runs on Linux. Typical reporting by an organisation who are in MS' back pocket.”
      --Linux Today reader
"I wonder why they have separated Android and Linux. Since Android is Linux with a particular software stack. I mean to be consistent wouldn't they have to divide Symbian up among different software stacks available for it? I suppose I should just realize it is Gartner and just ignore them." --Source

"What junk reporting by Gartner (again) is this? Android runs on Linux. Typical reporting by an organisation who are in MS' back pocket." --Source

"Whenever I read something about Android in the paper press until now, it was always being referred to as 'the mobile/ smartphone operating system developed by Google'. Unsurprisingly, Gartner continues this fine tradition. I also wouldn't be surprised if this continues along the lines of Miguel de Icaza's weird 'Miguel de Icaza & friends'-propaganda, who also claims to have invented/ developed "the Linux desktop system" based on some derelict parts of something he found laying somewhere on the Internet which "didn't work"." --Source

These are just the first three comments. It carries on as there are a lot more comments here. The deception from Gartner reached some other news sites and one site presented Gartner's excuse:

Android's gain is Microsoft's pain, as Windows Mobile dropped from 10.2 percent to 6.8 percent. Also taking it on the chin is the "Linux" category, down from 7 percent to 3.7 percent. Android is based on Linux, so it's a case of splitting hairs.

But generic Linux is different in that Android is seen as a full-blown ecosystem and not just an OS, and that is what is driving the most successful platforms, said Gartner. "As seen with the iPad and Web books based on Google's Android platform, mobile OS ecosystems are developing and will move beyond smartphones to continue to deliver consumer value and a rich user experience,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner in a statement.


Let's be clear here. No phone can run just Linux. None. Linux is a kernel or a platform, it is not an operating system. Who would create or tolerate some self-serving illusions with a poor classification that belittles Linux, as it doesn't hire Gartner? They use the word "ecosystem", which GNU recommends avoiding. As the site explains it: "It is a mistake to describe the free software community, or any human community, as an “ecosystem,” because that word implies the absence of ethical judgment.

"The term “ecosystem” implicitly suggests an attitude of nonjudgmental observation: don't ask how what should happen, just study and explain what does happen. In an ecosystem, some organisms consume other organisms. We do not ask whether it is fair for an owl to eat a mouse or for a mouse to eat a plant, we only observe that they do so. Species' populations grow or shrink according to the conditions; this is neither right nor wrong, merely an ecological phenomenon.

"By contrast, beings that adopt an ethical stance towards their surroundings can decide to preserve things that, on their own, might vanish—such as civil society, democracy, human rights, peace, public health, clean air and water, endangered species, traditional arts…and computer users' freedom."

Gartner: an ecosystem lacking integrity and ethics. "Making money" is not necessarily "doing good" and Gartner works for clients and shareholders (Bill Gates is among them), not for academic or scientific reasons.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

In defence of JD Vance, death of Pope Francis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Three Years in Prison for Disney Employee’s ‘Menu Hacking’: The Economic Fallout of Digital Menus
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Approaching 10,000 Articles/Pages Since Going Static
Trying to silence or derail the site was always a dumb strategy
Microsoft is Shedding Off Loads of Staff and That Can be Dangerous Too
Working for Microsoft is a choice; nobody forces you to do it
Richard Stallman and the Unix Philosophy
When asked about systemd people must remember that RMS speaks as an active Board member of the FSF and also the founder of the FSF
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
 
Links 26/04/2025: NOAA Budget Cuts and "Dog Days Ahead"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 25, 2025
Links 25/04/2025: Slop Fatigue and Patent Judges Flocking to Fake, Unconstitutional and Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC, Captured 'Justice')
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Night Manager and Devuan in Hosting
Links for the day
Windows Falls to New Lows in Nicaragua, Now Below a Quarter (It Used to be Almost 100%)
Another all-time low for Windows
The Cost (to Linux) of LLM Slop
Slop 'artists' like Fagioli are far from harmless
Links 25/04/2025: Ubisoft Spyware, Hegseth Fails at Tech on Every Level
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Food Forest Update and Facebook Destroying the Net
Links for the day
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025