--> 2009 has been a rather interesting year for Linux, and 2010 promises to be even better. In 2009 we have seen the explosion of Linux in the mobile phone segment: Google's Linux-based Android OS smartphones have blossomed, Nokia's Maemo based N900 made geeks all over the world drool, Palm released a new linux-based OS for its smartphones, WebOS, even Samsung unveiled a new Linux-based OS for its mobiles called Bada.The year of the Linux Desktop, may yet be far far away, but there is no doubt that 2009 was the year of the Linux Mobile.
That is not to say 2009 brought nothing good for the Linux desktop. For one, we now have a Google created "distribution" of Linux, Chrome OS , targeted towards netbooks . The economy has been a major incentive for Linux adoption, with netbooks becoming increasingly popular. Netbooks which are usually quite low-powered usually aren't capable of running anything more than Windows XP. However, here Linux offered what it offers best, infinite customizability, with a host of new netbook-centric interfaces now available. Ubuntu now has as many as 13 million users , which might be a small percentage of the whole, but a significant one indeed. That said Linux adoption is still a lonely percent of the whole, as is, Linux still maintains its image of being a geek's operating system, hard to install and use even though those have been far from the truth for quite long. Hopefully the growing adoption of Linux in smartphones is bound to introduce people to the operating system in friendly way. Few people will be attracted to Linux knowing that it runs their favourite website, but knowing it runs your TiVo, your mobile, and your Kindle is sure to have a greater impact -- and shake people's impression of a command line Linux. We might already be using Linux much more than we use Windows, we just don't know it.
Full Story: Linux in 2010 - Digit
That is not to say 2009 brought nothing good for the Linux desktop. For one, we now have a Google created "distribution" of Linux, Chrome OS , targeted towards netbooks . The economy has been a major incentive for Linux adoption, with netbooks becoming increasingly popular. Netbooks which are usually quite low-powered usually aren't capable of running anything more than Windows XP. However, here Linux offered what it offers best, infinite customizability, with a host of new netbook-centric interfaces now available. Ubuntu now has as many as 13 million users , which might be a small percentage of the whole, but a significant one indeed. That said Linux adoption is still a lonely percent of the whole, as is, Linux still maintains its image of being a geek's operating system, hard to install and use even though those have been far from the truth for quite long. Hopefully the growing adoption of Linux in smartphones is bound to introduce people to the operating system in friendly way. Few people will be attracted to Linux knowing that it runs their favourite website, but knowing it runs your TiVo, your mobile, and your Kindle is sure to have a greater impact -- and shake people's impression of a command line Linux. We might already be using Linux much more than we use Windows, we just don't know it.
Full Story: Linux in 2010 - Digit
