No subject

     The  German  computer  magazine  c't  has published  a
     survey  in their 17th issue which compares the use of
     various  Linux  distributions  by different types  of users
     in Germany. One  result  of the study was the fact that the
     more people know about Linux  the  more they use Debian in
     favour of other  distributions like Mandrake,  SuSE  or
     RedHat.  28 percent of people with more than five years
     Linux  experience  prefer  Debian, though only 3 percent of
     all newbies use it.

It might seem that this frequency of use is also reflected in the US,
as I recall at a Boulder LUG meeting about 30+% of the audience raised
their hands when asked who used Debian. Excepting, course, Linus
himself, who reported uses Red Hat because he likes the RPM system for
maintenance. <g>

The article, in German, is at http://www.heise.de/ct/01/17/186/, and a
partial translation without figures, in Babelfish fractured English
(which is still better than my non-existant German) is below.  I tried
to clean up the whitespace as best as I could....

NOTE: This posting was not intended to start a flame-war <g>. I just
found it interesting and thought it might be of interest to other
CLUErers.

BOF

-----------------
And which you make with Linux?

As the PC Unix is used in Germany

Maintain the one, Linux has no future on the Desktop and become never
beyond the area of the Internet servers. Linux fans hold against it,
the free operating system are long suited for the application on
workstations and enterprise-critical servers. We wanted to know it
exactly - and almost 10,000 heise on-line visitors gave us their
response.

Of Linux there are notions, prejudices and prophecies regarding the
spreading many, concrete numbers only few. ' as you use Linux? ' we
asked therefore at the end of of June one week long the heise on-line
readers. 9960 persons took part in the inquiry and left themselves
9213 evaluable data records - here a cordial thank-beautifully to gave
everything, which acknowledge themselves to a few minutes time taken
and us long preserved assumptions, in addition, some surprising
realizations.

With which equal about question the Repraesentativitaet places itself.
Are those representative well 9200 users in our inquiry for the Linux
users in Germany? Strictly statistically seen, finally it does not
concern no genuine random sample. On the other hand 9200 persons are
in view of some thousand and of Linux fans in Germany a quite large
sample; and on a large scale our manual logon procedure might have
prevented falsifications, which makes systematic distortions of the
results impossible by identical responses generated by script
automatically.

During the evaluation of the results one must certainly keep in the
back of the head that Linuxer information over ' it ' give operating
system here. One alone already sees that at the experience with Linux:
Over 60 per cent of the asked ones Linux already begin over two years.
Those, which gave up after some experiments with the PC Unix
frustrated, do not come here thus to word.

Serve or serves?

Directly to the entrance we wanted to know whether Linux on the server
or on the Desktop is used - and experienced the first surprise: With
almost two thirds of the users the response reads ' both and '. With a
fifth the Linux application is limited on the Desktop, with well 15
per cent to the server. Unterm ine use thus almost 85 per cent of the
asked ones the free operating system (also) on the Desktop - so much
about ' Linux is not suited for the Desktop '.

It looks still more interesting, if one considers, how long the users
of our on-line inquiry have to do with Linux: From the quite old hares
with more than five years Linux experience (nevertheless a good fifth
of all users) well 80 per cent Linux insert on servers and Desktop.
The Linux beginners however concentrate predominantly on a targeted
application - and that is usually the Desktop.


[Figure 1] The old hares use Linux everywhere, beginners start usually
with the Desktop.


With the very most persons, who filled out our on-line questionnaire,
runs more than one computer under Linux. Are those Linux user thus -
completely as in the plate - which verschrobenen computer Freaks,
which in cellar, work -, living or bedroom a whole computer park
structured? Now, not completely: Almost all users of the questioning
(90 per cent) use Linux privately, but have nevertheless 70 per cent
also vocationally with the free operating system to do. And
those are it above all, which operate several computers: Over 90 per
cent of the professionals at least two have, nevertheless still
another good quarter (27.5  per cent) over ten Linux systems in the
application. However get along almost half of those, which use Linux
exclusively privately, with a PC; and only a small minority operates
more than three computers with Linux.

The question about the hardware platform furnished little surprising
results: With almost all users (99.5 per cent) Linux runs on Intel
hardware. Perhaps differently than one would expect, is on workstation
two however neither the power PC (350 denominations) still the alpha
processor (270 denominations) -  separate with 400 denominations the
SPARC platform. If one considers that one can buy SPARC computers
generally only with a commercial Unix (Solaris or in former times
SunOS), is this already a little amazing. 90 has Linux on a Mainframe
nevertheless asked to run, approximately 50 asked on 'kleingeraeten'
(predominantly PDAs with StrongARM processor). Or other Itanium was
even called already under 'other hardware'.

Is the fact that hardware platforms are predominantly used beyond the
x86-Architektur in the professional context not too amazing - which
privatmann has already a Mainframe in the cellar? Among private Linux
users the power PC processor strikes itself still best (Apple lets
greet!) and nevertheless comes on a proportion of well 2 per cent.

As it pleases you

If Linuxer do not defend even ' it ' system against attacks of Windows
or BSD fan, they argue among themselves, which distribution is most
successful probably - at least one could win this impression, if one
looks into relevant panels. In practice such arguments seem to play
however no so large role: Over a third of the asked ones more than one
distribution begins. Front runner is with clear distance the German
SuSE distribution (74 per cent). With some distance talk (29 per cent)
and Debian (23 per cent) follow, again something issued Mandrake (ten
per cent). The numerous other distributions do not seem to play an
important role.


[Figure 2] German Linuxer accesses dearest to SuSE.


Linux professionals tend thereby rather to the application of several
distributions as private individuals - finally they operate also more
frequently several Linux computers. Talk has is clearly more popular
in the professional surrounding field with 33 per cent proportion than
with private Linux users (16 per cent); otherwise the different
distributions are similarly far common in the private and vocational
use.

It participates interesting that the proportions of the distributions
remain also over different user groups, divided after their experience
with Linux, relatively constant. Typical entering he or professional
distributions does not exist obviously. There is however a remarkable
exception: The, the more frequently access they have more experience
the asked ones with Linux to Debian - 3 per cent of the beginners, but
28 per cent of the old hares with more than five years Linux
experience use this distribution. That seems to give right to the
voices, the Debian special ripe and internal qualities award - or also
a particularly kryptische installation and configuration...

Nevertheless well 1.6 per cent of the asked ones indicated that they
arranged themselves their Linux - about half of it on the basis of the
' Linux From of Scratch' project [ 1 ]. To approximately 1.2 per cent
the proportion of the fli4l-Nennungen amounts. This ' One disk Router
' brings floppy one complete DSL-und ISDN Router under [ 2 on one ].

Naturally interested us above all, as content Linux users with their
system are. Here those, which see the free operating system ripe as
long for the the acct agony record, receive a first absorber: With
Linux on the server almost all users of the on-line inquiry are
contently, with Linux on the Desktop however 'only ' scarcely 77 per
cent. Whether certainly different systems can show a larger proportion
of content users, is on another page...