Linux, but not as we know it

Linux is not storming the Desktop, despite it reaching a level of maturity at least five years ago to be used by general purpose users. However, it is starting to have an impact in the mobile phone world in the form of Android.

Stuff is reporting that phones using Google's Android platform are surging ahead, taking market share from Apple and the iPhone. Android is also reportedly being used for tablet computers, which may have a significant impact on the desktop and laptop markets. Smaller access devices in combination with Cloud Computing offered by Google are making serious inroads that will threaten both Apple and Microsoft.

The "secret sauce" behind Google is no secret. They built their business on the power of open source, in the form of Linux based servers. Google could work with Linux like no other operating system, and were able to use it on their servers to build a business that has few rivals. Now they are continuing that strategy of building on Linux to push into the mobile computing market.

It is hard to appreciate that without Open Source there would be no Google, no Android, and quite possibly, no Internet. Linux has been a huge success, but not in ways that were expected. Rather than taking over the desktop it is instead taking the market share from the desktop. And as users are introduced to other computing devices their reliance on traditional approaches to computing will wane.