Linux is expected to become a $36bn business by 2008 and well over a quarter of all servers shipping
Isn't this a bit optimistic?
That's including the hardware, pumped up by IBM mainframes, which may only be running Linux on one partition. And still overblown, just like supposed adoption rates have been for the last 5+ years.
To see what's really going on, look at the Linux vendors performance on Wall Street. Tumbling down, to less than half their value of a year ago. Here's one good example:
Novell stock slumps after restatement of revenue
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh43710_2005-02-28_16-00-38_n28257657_newsml
NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Shares of Novell Inc.(NOVL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) fell more than 5 percent on Monday to an 18-month low after the software maker reclassified its quarterly results to show lower revenue from new software licenses than previously stated.
"Subsequent to the issuance of our press release and the conference call announcing our results of operations for our first fiscal quarter 2005, it came to our attention that $6.1 million of Linux & platform services revenue reported as new software licenses should have been reported as maintenance and services," the company said in a regulatory filing.
As a result, Novell, a pioneer of networking software that has switched in the past year to become a distributor of Linux, posted net new software licenses revenue of $44.3 million, instead of the reported $50.4 million. There was no change to total revenue or net income in the first fiscal quarter 2005.
Not really, could it be lower? of course. But with companies like Oracle, BEA, IBM, and Veritas making them the recommeded solution there will be a good deal of business going that way.