In the research for my futures paper, I came across the fact that operating systems based on Linux are now widely used in many industries. I decided to do some follow-up research and see exactly how widely used it is. To my surprise, Linux is not only widely used in commercial industries, but also many other surprising places. A notable article I came across listed 50 places that Linux is used. The article can be seen at:
http://www.comparebusinessproducts.com/fyi/50-places-linux-running-you-might-not-expect
Among some of the largest users of linux include the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, governments of foreign countries/cities such as Spain and Munich, Germany. Even the bank of China uses linux, something which came as a big surprise. I never would have thought that a country such as China would ever sponsor Linux. Even Cuba uses it, even though it is a proprietary development.
With respect to education, it seems like many foreign school systems and universities have also switched mainly to some form of Linux. This is surprising since one would expect that United States educational systems would be leading adopters.
The article rounds out by listing many retailers and other companies that use linux, as well as research applications of linux. This article was written 2 years ago so things might have changed since then, but I still think that it may be very reflective of the current state of linux usage.
I’ve tried not to list too many details about the article in this post. I was hoping to just incite some interest and get you to check out the article yourself.
Great article and observations. It is interesting that the U.S. academic institutions seem to be lagging behind. I suspect part of that is the U.S Institutions may have older technical programs and started making deals with the big U.S. based software companies (ever wonder why you can get Windows for “free” as a Virginia Tech student?) and once a large university starts using a particular system there can be logistical complications trying to change over. I suspect (hope) that any new programs starting up would strongly consider a Linux install base for their computers/curriculum.
I figured that the University would have some sort of deal with Microsoft. After all, Windows is still the most dominant operating system and no matter what, aspiring engineers need to know how to use it. However, I don’t think there will be that many complications. After all, Linux is free and open source and to deny its growth and significance would be a complete misdirection. Simply requiring a partition on engineering student’s laptops that runs Linux or even a virtual box would not be harmful. It would give students a ready alternative, even if they might never use it. If Microsoft doesn’t like that, then they will be in for a rude awakening if they keep denying Linux’s importance.