Bonum Certa Men Certa

GNU/Linux is Taking Over Everything and the Code is Freely Shared

The operating system part of the stack is growingly free, like an open book

Audit book



Summary: How Linux (often with GNU as a core system) is taking root in everything, from micro to macro

LITTLE by little, Linux spreads all over Earth and beyond. It is constantly growing on the desktop (even in space [1]) and on the 'cloud' (server). Mr. Pogson takes note of the growth of GNU/Linux at Microsoft's expense [3,4], demonstrating with numbers that "Linux Did Well In 2013" (as in previous years). Android plays a significant role here.



Consider some of the latest claims from Linux foes Gartner and IDC. Gartner cannot deny Android's growth [5] and neither can IDC, which reported on it through IDG [6] (conflict of interest) and other venues [7,8]. It is good not just for Google because Android can be forked and it is already being forked by at least three notable efforts (2 of which are freedom-oriented). CyanogenMod is the most notable alternative/branch/fork, which even Google Play Store is willing to foster [9,10] as a new version, Android 4.4 KitKat, comes out [11-14].

Apple's co-founder (the one who is still alive) suggests that Apple should turn to Android [15], which is better for developers [16,17] and for users that receive more and more features, as well as cutting-edge software [18,19]. Android is rapidly going upwards (ascending from 80% market share and perhaps reaching 90%), but this doesn't mean that there are no Linux-powered challengers (Android independent, but sharing some code like Linux), as we shall show in a moment. This will be the subject of our next post.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. In space, no one can hear you scream at Windows XP (anymore)
    I’m a little late in my reporting, but this year, in May, the International Space Station (ISS) dumped the last of its laptop installations of the Windows XP operating system to go all Linux.

    Furthermore, it dropped Red Hat Linux in favour of Debian 6, according to the Linux Foundation, which provided two training courses geared specifically for the USA/NASA team’s needs.


  2. Why the Linux mainframe is the cloud datacentre
    Linux on the server has been respected and regarded in technology circles for many years now.

    One of the main reasons for this is that Linux is argued to be especially competent at handling "many processes at once", something Windows has traditionally not done quite so well.


  3. */Linux Did Well In 2013
    Even StatCounter, which undercounts */Linux severely, shows the trends...


  4. M$’s House Is Afire
    The leader of the CEO hopefuls wants to port M$’s office suite to other platforms to sell more. There goes lock-in for the client OS. He also wants to shutdown/sell Xbox and Bing to get back to core businesses and shed employees. Two zero-day flaws are being exploited in the wild and M$ can’t do anything about it… M$ can’t add and doesn’t even try (more on this). M$ is still losing share in client OS even on legacy PCs.


  5. Gartner: 456M Phones Sold In Q3, 55% Of Them Smartphones; Android At 82% Share, Samsung A Flat Leader


  6. Android market share moves past 80%


  7. Android Blows Past 80 Percent Market Share


  8. Android Pushes Past 80% Market Share
    Google's Android operating system reached a new milestone during the third quarter of 2013 (3Q13), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. With a total base of 211.6 million smartphone units shipped during the quarter, Android accounted for 81.0% of all smartphone shipments, marking the first time that Android topped 80% in its short history. Despite high saturation rates in a number of mature markets, the overall smartphone space grew 39.9% year-over-year in the third quarter.


  9. CyanogenMod installer now available on Google Play Store


  10. CyanogenMod publishes new Installer app on Google Play
    Cyanogen Inc., the newly created company that produces the popular custom Android ROM CyanogenMod, published a new app called CyanogenMod Installer which will unlock the user’s boot loader, root their device, and flash CyanogenMod to their phone with minimal extra effort. The free app is available over Google Play, and when it's paired with equally free desktop software, this can replace a phone's operating system with Cyanogen Inc.'s highly customizable version of Android.


  11. Download The Android 4.4 KitKat Quick Start Guide for Free
    Google’s latest mobile operating system, Android 4.4 KitKat, is out and it comes pre-installed on Nexus 5. Android enthusiasts and developers were very excited for this new smartphone as well as the new operating system. But now that KitKat is available for Nexus 5, we can get our hands on this new OS. If you’ve got any Nexus or Google Play edition devices, then you too may be getting Android 4.4 KitKat in the near future. Unfortunately, Galaxy Nexus users won’t get this new update.


  12. Android 4.4 KitKat, thoroughly reviewed
    After three Jelly Bean releases in a row, Google has unleashed a major revision to the world's most widely used operating system. With the Nexus 5 comes Android 4.4 "KitKat." KitKat brings a ton of enhancements: support for hidden system and status bars, printer support, and lower memory usage. It also has a number of user-level improvements, including a new dialer, a Google-infused home screen, and a whole pile of UI refinements.


  13. Android KitKat aims at a broader range of devices


  14. Steve Wozniak: Apple Should Work With Google and Samsung
    Wozniak told the BBC that Apple would be more powerful if it had a good professional relationship with Google. Apple would be able to improve services such as voice-assistant software Siri (thanks to Google's search-engine ties) and even develop better wearable tech, such as smartwatches and augmented-reality glasses, Wozniak said.


  15. Google’s App Translation Service now live for all developers
    Heads up, Android devs: it’s now easier than ever to localize your app, thanks to the newly launched App Translation Service from Google.


  16. How Configure an Android Development Environment on Linux
  17. Google Debuts Nexus 5, KitKat Combo


  18. Android Candy: Flickr Uploader


  19. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft to hit Android in 2014


Recent Techrights' Posts

Hopping From One Set of Buzzwords to the Next
Rotating hype and vapourware
Currys PCWorld Hates GNU/Linux Even Though It Runs the World
If more and more people choose to remove Windows, then Currys PCWorld will feel the financial impact of its dumb policies
The Register MS Takes More Money to Boost Slop Hype, This Time From Snyk, a Notorious FUD Source
At some stage or at some point they might even decide to stop doing so
"AI" Hype or LLM Slop is Not About Efficiency, It's About Lowering Standards
It does not seem like IBM is genuinely committed to the same goals (or commitments) as the original Red Hat
 
Moral Standards From the Masters of Linux
They get hung up on minor language issue and promote this crazy theory that racism will go away if only everyone spoke a little differently (no matter where he or she came from)
Links 14/08/2025: Data Brokers Hiding Opt-Out Pages From Google, "Fight Chat Control"
Links for the day
FSF Infrastructure Under Constant Attack
The disconnect (literally) has had an effect on credibility
Feels Like The Register MS is Trying to Diversify a Bit
If The Register MS goes back to being The Register US (or UK), that will be a nice improvement
Gemini Links 14/08/2025: Reading Journal and LLM Fatigue Revisited
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Internet Relay Chat and Gemini Protocol Help Us Relive the Net of the Dial-Up Era
The kids were alright
"GPT-5" is Another Microsoft Dead Cat Trying to Bounce
The hype, the momentum (or the inertia) is wearing off
Microsoft Windows Losing Its Grip Near Turkey and Russia
The 'corridor' nations connecting Iran to Europe
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Google News, and Serial Slopper (SS)
The slop, the bad, and the ugly
Links 13/08/2025: The “Incriminating Video” Scam and Corruption in South Korea
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/08/2025: Movie Memories and Mystery Machine Bus
Links for the day
Links 13/08/2025: GitHub Trouble and Openwashing by Microsoft OSI With the Typical Buzzwords
Links for the day
If Free/Libre Software is Adding Trillions in Value to the European Economy, Then the European Commission Must Crush Software Patents
Further to what we wrote yesterday
Microsoft Swallows GitHub Losses
Only Microsoft knows how much money it has already lost on GitHub
Gemini Links 13/08/2025: Climate, Coffee, and Deploying Troops in Washington DC After Pardoning 1,000+ Insurrectionists in Washington DC
Links for the day
The Register MS Lowered MS Focus This Week
We hope The Register recognises its errors and tries to make up for them
Learning Ethics From Jeffrey Epstein's Enabler/Client/Ally, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft Accenture
Whatever merits vocabulary changes initially had are being tainted or obscured by later iterations, which tell us to avoid word like "normal", which apparently offend some people (so they argue)
Personal Attacks From Rust People Serve to Confirm They Have Lost the Argument
"The discussion I find around the net so far has no technical merit and centers around ad hominem"
Physical Meters and Purely Mechanical Meters Aren't Dumb; It's Dumb to Mock or Dismiss Them as Antiquated
I've learned a lot this week, both online and over the telephone
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 12, 2025
GitHub Will End Up like XBox and Skype
It is not likely that the XBox franchise will survive the next 5 years
Stones Thrown in Glass Houses
Projecting? You bet!
As Europe Gets Increasingly Serious About Software Freedom and Digital Sovereignty It Needs to Enforce a Ban on Software Patents ASAP
many councils in Europe move to Free software and US policy/companies cannot be trusted
Windows 12 in Bahrain (Microsoft "Market Share" Down to 12%, an All-Time Low)
They really ought to get away from Windows even faster
The Web Needs 'Pest Control' When It Comes to LLM Slopfarms
The goal is to discourage more sites becoming slopfarms
Microsoft Can Now Stop Reporting the GitHub Layoffs (Even When They Happen)
GitHub's original staff will see the true cost of becoming "b0rged" - something that Microsoft earned a bad reputation for
How to Get Very Bad or Even Malicious Code Into Linux? Write it in a Language That Linus Torvalds and Most Other Linux Developers Don't Understand.
One point nobody brings up is, what if code gets committed while evading audits and scrutiny?
Links 12/08/2025: Wikipedia Fails at UK High Court, Perlmutter Still Fights to Squash the Slop Lobby
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/08/2025: Field Recording and Digital Legacy
Links for the day
Links 12/08/2025: WinRAR Zero-Day, SonicWall Does More Harm Than Good
Links for the day
Links 12/08/2025: More Sabotage of Underwater Cable Ahead of Russian Alaska Summit
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Will Not Miss Microsoft GitHub, It Was Only Good at Harvesting a Lot of Code for Plagiarism-as-a-Service
investors are apparently willing to lose money for buzzwords
Slopfarms Slopping Away at "Linux" and Spreading Microsoft Misinformation
Slopfarms don't comprehend this as they lack actual comprehension, they're just parrots
Links 12/08/2025: Science, Hardware, and Ukraine Excluded From Negotiations About Its Future
Links for the day
GitHub the Company Has, in Effect, Just Died (Time to Look for Alternatives)
To Microsoft, what's left of GitHub after dismantling/folding it is some "training set" (people's code, without permission to "train" i.e. misuse under the guise of "GenAI" plagiarism)
Linux Foundation Says "Housekeeping", "Hung", "Normal", "Native Feature/Support" and "Girl/Girls" Are Offensive Words
Bombing people is OK, just use the right "terms"
It Looks More Like Microsoft GitHub Layoffs
GitHub is just losing loads of money
Gemini Links 12/08/2025: Meditation, OpenStreetMap, Smolweb, and More
Links for the day
Google News is Dying: Most of Its Top Stories Now Are LLM Slop With Slop Images (i.e. 100% Fake 'Content')
Google News has been drowning in this sort of stuff for quite some time
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 11, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, August 11, 2025
Our Predictions Were Right: GitHub Dying as Losses Pile Up (as a Company It Cannot Continue to Exist, It's Not 'Free Hosting')
GitHub always lost money