What Linux Are You Using?
Posted 08/23/07 at 08:43:17 AM by Robert Strohmeyer
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Over at DesktopLinux.com, the results of the annual Linux desktop user survey have come in. With 38,500 users responding, the statistics are surprisingly homogeneous. Here's what everyone seems to be using.
Carrying a whopping 30% of the desktop install base, Ubuntu (including Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and the rest of the Ubuntu variants) is far and away the leader in the desktop Linux world. OpenSUSE follows with 19.6% of the vote, with Debian holding the only other two-digit percentage at 11.7%. I'm not surprised to see Ubuntu Linux leading the pack, but it's interesting to see such a dramatic lead, particularly with only two other distributions drawing significant user numbers.
Unsurprisingly, GNOME and KDE dominate the windowing environments. GNOME leads with 44.8%, compared to KDE's 34.8%.
The most substantial lead in the survey comes in the Web browser arena, in which Firefox holds a massive 59.6% of the user base. This shouldn't surprise anyone; Firefox is a dominant browser on Windows and Macs, too. Next up is Konquerer, the default KDE browser, with 13.7%, followed by Opera with 11.9%.
For the most part, the fact that Ubuntu leads the distros appears to automatically dictate the numbers in the survey. But when it comes to e-mail clients, people seem to be of their own mind. Thunderbird is the most popular desktop Linux mail client, with 29.6%, with Evolution holding 25%. 16.8% use webmail clients such as Gmail, while 13.5% use KMail.
Finally, DesktopLinux.com asked users to tell how they run Windows apps on Linux. 31.5%, said they use Wine, while 27.9% said they don't run Windows apps at all. 19.2% use VMWare, meaning they actually run Windows virtually on their Linux desktop.
So now we have a pretty clear picture of what the average Linux user's desktop might look like: Ubuntu with GNOME, running Firefox and Thunderbird, with Wine running Windows apps from time to time. But this is a mighty incomplete picture. I'd like to hear from you, our readers. Chime in with a comment about your own Linux box. But don't just tell us which distribution you're running. I want to know what apps you use, too. In particular, I'd like to know which office suite, which IM utility, which music player, or which graphics app you use on a regular basis. Don't be shy. Tell us about it.
Suse Linux Saved Me!!!
Submitted by lostowl on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 9:44am
After trying since 1995 to get away from Windows, using things like OS/2, Mandrake, Red Hat and BeOS, I heard about a linux flavor that was reputed to be a sort of conglomerate of other versions and an attempt to standardize Linux, called SUSE. Whatever the reasons for the projected, I downloaded a 7.x version on sometime in 2001 or 2002, and literally stopped using all Microsoft products that night. It was almost six months until I felt the need to boot into Windows, and then only to use Adobe Premier.
Now, I use an OpenSUSE 10.2 OS as my primary work environment, with XP in a VM for the custom apps that I couldn't get running in a Crossover bottle. Here are the other details of my Linux Life:
Distro:OpenSuse 10.2 (Gnome)
Office:OpenOffice 2.1
IM:None, but I used to use GAIM
Music: xine-ui
Graphics: Gimp
Video editing: MainActor (licensed) and Kino
Gaming: SecondLife
Windows Apps: Wine through Crossover Office
Virtual Environment: VMWare Server
Browser: Mozilla Firefox
Email: EvolutionWork: At work, Linux is my work environment. I access all of our windows servers using gnome-rdp, and smbmount for the filesystems. I use the linux consoles to ssh into our network switches. I use Linux's easily available snmp tools to monitor and manage the network. I use anjuta to write and test perl scripts. All of this I access from drop down drawers from the Gnome panel.
Sadly, I now use Linux at home almost as little as I use Windows... ever since I bought and iMac!!!!!!
Submitted by fnordfnord on Fri, 08/24/2007 - 10:48am
http://distrowatch.com/
place name rank
1 Ubuntu 2632<
2 PCLinuxOS 2456>
3 openSUSE 1483<
4 Fedora 1338<
5 Sabayon 1156>
6 Debian 1030<
7 Mint 997>
8 MEPIS 952<
9 Mandriva 781<
10 Damn Small 679<
11 Slackware 600<
12 CentOS 550=
13 Gentoo 533<
14 Zenwalk 498<
15 KNOPPIX 495<
16 Kubuntu 463<
17 Puppy 433<
18 Vector 401<
19 Dreamlinux 401<
20 Arch 396=
21 Freespire 383=
22 FreeBSD 364<
23 sidux 318>
24 Elive 285top 7 linux sustems according to me:
kubuntu
mandriva
open suse
xandros
ark linux
mint linux
mepis
Submitted by dave23d on Fri, 08/24/2007 - 3:50am
I use Linux from scratch, and Ubuntu.
Applications I use are:-
Open Office
Firefox
XMMS
Xine
gFTP
aMSN
Skype
Evolution (E-mail)
Rosegarden
Lilypond (notation editing/printing)
Ardour2
Exaiel
Hydrogen (Drum Machine)Love Linux and 3D Linux Games :)
Submitted by dave23d on Fri, 08/24/2007 - 3:33am
I Use Linux from scratch and Ubuntu.
Love Linux and 3D Linux Games :)
Submitted by bgharris on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 3:29pm
I've been using suse since version 7.2. (have tried Mandrake, Corel, Libranet, Fedora and a few others that I never could get installed). After trying 3 Longhorn builds I decided I don't want Vista and have been using open suse exclusively - no more dual booting!!! The apps I use most often are Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, Crossover Office (for Photoshop), Xmms, Amorak, Quanta+, KMyMoney, The Gimp, K3b, Kstars & Pysol. If I could get Corel Painter running, I wouldn't miss Windows at all.
PS. Even though I no longer run Windows and am not a gamer, I will keep up my subscription to MaximumPC.
Linux
Submitted by Caboose on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 1:22pm
My first Linux OS was Red Hat. I used it in college in an Operating Systems course. From there, I found Lindows (now called Linspire), and used that for a while, until I came across OpenSUSE from a friend, I use that off and on but my primary Linux distro is Ubuntu with Gnome. I've also converted my girlfriend into a Linux user (her PC runs a bit better w/Linux).
As for apps. I use FireFox and Thunderbird (when I setup mail). I use X-Chat 2 for my IRC, OpenOffice for word processing. Armok is my media player of choice, however I do like to try others from time to time. And I use GAIM as my IM app. as it supports all the instant messaging programs that I use.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Submitted by DeckerEgo on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 8:34am
I was first attracted to SuSE once RedHat went down the Fedora road... RedHat's KDE support was less than stellar, as they seemed to be loathe to use the /opt directory for some reason.
I've stuck with SuSE even after Novell purchased them, and despite a few false starts with Zen and Novell wanting to ditch KDE it is still the best distro for my use. I've used Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian (since Woody) but still found openSUSE to be the most polished distro.
Encrypted disk support works fantastically and is extremely easy to use. Ubuntu's support is still not quite there, as their bootloader still doesn't appear to like interrupting itself to prompt for crypttab passwords. SaX2 is absolutely phenomenal and means I never have to hack an X11 config again, making multi-monitor and input device support a breeze. YaST2 is still the best "control panel" administration tool I've used in a Linux distro, and is a selling point in and of itself.
If Kubuntu fixed encrypted disk support, used SaX2 by default and adopted YaST2, I'd switch over for the enormous software repository and the ease of apt. Until then, openSUSE does a fantastic job.
Oh yeah - and SuSE has a login manager that looks like WinXP's. Sounds minor, but that way my family can login without getting confused ;)
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