Linux, as an open source platform, offers a large number of advantages for its users. This is especially true for its web hosting and other network servers, due to the ease of updating and its astounding stability. However, Linux users feel that their numbers are being undercounted, and that their population is much larger than the numbers show.

Their outcry was in response to a phone survey report done by the company Gartner. Gartner surveyed technicians about which systems they purchased, and what systems they installed on them in aftermath. According to their results, Linux accounts for only 8.6% of the server market. This stands in harsh contradiction to several other reports, including one from AINNetResearch which put the number all the way up at 39%.

So, why would the numbers be so massively different? There are many reasons that users bring up, but the most simple has to do with the ways that reporting companies get information. Since one of the biggest sources is the companies that ship out servers, much of the data isn’t on what is actually used on the server, but what is “shipped.” Most servers are certainly shipped with the Windows operating system, but many claim that users are often loading the open source Linux software onto their servers after they have arrived.

Server users of Linux acknowledge that they’re probably not in the majority, calling Linux an “underground movement.” Still, when it comes to servers, Linux users would like to have their numbers seen correctly. The problem is even greater with Linux home computer systems. While there are many Linux users, these individuals almost always downloaded and installed the system after the computer was purchased. Very few companies, globally, ship laptops or desktops equipped with Linux.

With numbers from less than ten percent to almost half the server using population, it’s difficult to get solid numbers. It’s also difficult to know when such numbers may be achieved, since the open source software has created an accidental barrier to reporting by making free internet download their primary method of distribution.