I don’t usually frequent Wall St type websites like The Street or others because I am not bi-polar and I don’t sweat everyday over the movement of the dow. However I do from time to time read articles about the business of technology. So it is sometimes amusing to see street writers trying to write about technology and technology trends. This time it is Server shipments and virtualization:
The latest figures from consulting firms indicate that although Linux sales are growing by number of servers shipped with the operating system, the software is losing ground to Microsoft’s Windows.
The writer assumes firstly that all servers shipped with OS are Windows (not true) and that the total market is all servers shipped with an OS (which is also not true). Indeed most linux servers are not shipped with the server but are installed from already owned licenses. Most IT shops negotiate their linux licenses separately from the server purchase. This too goes for virtualization. These tools are purchased independently of the server purchase and so you cannot measure its impact from simple server shipments but from overall usage. And this can only be measured by polling users. That’s why I don’t read Wall Street rags on technology…
