Google predicts that Ubuntu may be more popular than Linux itself in 2010

Posted in Tech blog on August 20th, 2009 by Pingdom

Ubuntu is just one of a myriad of Linux distributions, but no one can deny that its rise to fame has been meteoric, especially as a desktop OS.

This week Google announced a “forecast” feature in Google Insights for Search. Essentially it’s a new function that looks at the search history (popularity) of a term and tries to predict what the future trend for that term will look like.

So just out of curiosity we decided to try Ubuntu versus Linux to see what would happen. The dotted line furthest to the right in the chart below is Google’s prediction. We’ve marked the point where the interest for Ubuntu is predicted to overtake Linux with a red arrow, i.e. February 2010.

Since this is based on past data it is in no way a secure prediction of the future, but it does look quite plausible. The interest for Linux (at least as a search term) has long been declining while the interest for Ubuntu has been increasing (although it has slowed down recently).

One interpretation of this data is that the interest for Ubuntu is surpassing the interest for “just” Linux. It’s becoming quite a brand…

Perhaps we’re playing devil’s advocate here, but are we seeing the beginning of the end of the Linux distribution chaos? Will Ubuntu eventually become the Linux distribution of choice for more or less everyone?

Tags: foss, google, linux, open-source, operating system, os, predictions, search, trends, ubuntu

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11 comments

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Cobenator

I have gone through a lot of distros learning linux, and I love Gentoo.I love Gentoo so much I want to marry it.

GNU_Profit

Ubuntu is Linux!!!! Why do people think that Ubuntu isn't linux!? Also why do some people think that Ubuntu is the only Linux distro and that it is the best Linux distro!? Ubuntu SUCKS!! Slackware linux and Gentoo etc. are much better!

Harry Seldon

The sharp drop for "Linux" is not compensated by Ubuntu (nor Fedora or Redhat or debian). Why is it? I am quite surprised. Compare Linux and Windows on Google insights. It is interesting because you will see that both have the exact same trend. So my personal attempt at a conclusion is simply that people search less for these terms because they know better how to use Linux or Windows. But basically I see no correlation between Ubuntu rise and Linux decrease.

on the fence

I am in 100% agreement with the poster LinuxLover. Could not have put it better myself.

Pingus

Ubuntu Bug Stats as 8.20-09 * Open (60697) +609 over last week * Critical (28) +1 over last week * Unconfirmed (28316) +350 over last week * Unassigned (52346) +558 over last week * All bugs ever reported (303196) +1977 over last week

dave

Ro: The "niggly" problems are the ones that prevent widespread adoption... If Ubuntu's only contribution to Linux is better documentation, it's worth it.

Sassinak

Ubuntu is a mom and pop distro. I know so, cuz I'm a mom and I have been using it for almost 2 years. It's friendly and accessible, and does everything a mom and pop OS should do. I don't do much hacking, or gaming, neither do I compose music or movies (thought I sometimes watch and edit some). I have looked at some other distros, but not many (Puppy, Opensuse, PCLOS) and I always return to Ubuntu. Maybe it's a desktop thing: Xfce and Lxde are nice and fast, KDE is Kool, Enlightement is amazing...but Gnome is nice, comfortable, and complete. I suspect when my girls reach 12, they will start to stray towards those "kooler" distros and desktop, and I will sure as hell let them. They will probably introduce me to my next distro as my needs will change over time. Ubuntu is a great entry point into a remarquably diversified OS world, and I'm damn happy with it.

dave

Tacking "Linux" in front of a search term typically gives good information targeted at advanced Linux users who don't need a lot of hand-holding. Prepending "ubuntu" typically gives newb-level information, ie, step-by-step instruction, or even copy-paste pseudo-scripts. Convincing users to adopt the linux philosophy (by whatever name it is called) is extremely desirable.

I'm an Ubuntu user myself but, if you want devil's advocates, I could point out that the Google results could equally be down to Ubuntu users having more niggly problems that they have to search for help on ... repeatedly!

LinuxLover

Looks like Ubuntu is succeeding in supplanting the term "Ubuntu" for Linux. This is something I'm highly against and cringe at the thought. Linux needs to have a united front, but Ubuntu seems like Intel where it's their way or the highway. This is so very bad. Already, I see many distros invoking Ubuntu-like features, which I also detest. I simply do not like Ubuntu, it's business practices, or it's nasty habits as an OS.

Bingboi

A united Linux front? If that ever happens Microsoft will have reason to get extremely nervous. :)

Trackbacks

Links 20/08/2009: GNU/Linux Beats Vista 7, Shadowgrounds Survivor is Coming | Boycott Novell says:

August 20, 2009 at 4:37 pm

[...] Google predicts that Ubuntu may be more popular than Linux itself in 2010 Ubuntu is just one of a myriad of Linux distributions, but no one can deny that its rise to fame has been meteoric, especially as a desktop OS. [...]
Ubuntu será más popular que Linux… ¿así será? « Mundo Binario says:

August 25, 2009 at 5:54 pm

[...] ofrecidos por Google Insight. Tal es el caso de la noticia publicada en Royal Pingdon, titulada Google predice que en 2010, Ubuntu será más popular que Linux. El post es breve pero básicamente analizó la tendencia de búsqueda de ambos términos y [...]
Ubuntu será más popular que "Linux" | NoUbuntu ... says:

August 26, 2009 at 8:53 am

[...] ofrecidos por Google Insight. Tal es el caso de la noticia publicada en Royal Pingdon, titulada Google predice que en 2010, Ubuntu será más popular que Linux. Según esta tendencia, Ubuntu será más popular que Linux en unos años [...]
Ubuntu será más popular que Linux mismo says:

August 27, 2009 at 11:01 am

[...] Fuente [...]
openstark » Blog Archive » Google predit qu’ Ubuntu sera plus populaire que Linux lui-même en 2010 ! says:

October 7, 2009 at 11:08 am

[...] Article originale. [...]
Lablo´s Ubuntu Blog » 2010 For ubuntu says:

December 29, 2009 at 7:12 pm

[...] der bare "virker ud af boksen". Altså Linux for mennesker Det er forudsagt fra websitet pingdom, at det med tiden vil blive den mest populære distribution (distro.) af alle [...]