Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

A couple of things could be going on:
* To your point, Ubuntu and Linux could be used interchangeably.
* Since this trend is about search, could be that people already know where to go and don't have to search for either of those terms.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

Similar statements were made concerning Red Hat 10 years ago. Look where we are now.

Number of increases whole time hence a downwards trend could very well mean stability.

You didn't include Ubuntu in your link but after including it, it shows not an increase after 2007Q2. Instead its stable, fluctuating both up as well as down.

As for Suse, A shows a possible explanation. The decline from A to F is 2,5 years. This decline is sharper than from 2,5 years before A to A.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

If you just look at the trend for maemo, you see something very funny. The biggest "city" doing searches for "maemo" is a place called "Nokia, Finland". This is followed by cities like "Espoo" and "Helsinki".

Hmm.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

Interesting. I'd forgotten they tracked hits (right column about half way down). There's also a spreadsheet-like comparison of distros over time. For some reason Ubuntu is up over 20% in the last month versus the last three months.

http://distrowatch.com/stats.php?section=popularity

Looking around, I think I was too kind when I described Linux as splintered. Ground into a fine powder might be more appropriate.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

Indeed. Enterprise customers with support contract won't use Google.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

But Red Hat is in close to that position in the enterprise. If you're doing an analysis of Linux distros with paid support, they're at the top of most lists.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

Yeah. I understand that one far too well. I just had a mail pop up in my inbox:

From: customer.services
Subject: Your order is on its way

.. I nearly wet myself with excitement, only to open the mail and find out it's from the supermarket we order online delivery from telling us they'll be delivering tomorrow.

I cried. :p

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

IMHO search trends are interesting but the meaning is open for discussion. The use of Linux platforms is increasing. For some devices that use Linux the device brand would be the dominant search term. I doubt for example that most TomTom users even know their device runs Linux. Android as a brand also overshadows the Linux within.

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

And I doubt many Panasonic flat-screen owners realize they're Linux users. Maybe they'll be able to stumble over that remote-control option which shows the GPL license, if they're lucky. There are other TV vendors using Linux too. I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority turn out to do so.

BTW, one of these days I'm going to try to put and SD card formatted as ext2 into a Panasonic TV (the one for slideshows), to see if it recognizes it. Their kernel is compiled with CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y :)

Re: Unbuntu growing, linux declining
 

Ahh, I see you longing for the times when you could buy your Model T in any colour as long as it was black.
Well, those times are gone and one size doesn't fit all.