How many FOSS developers & users Worldwide?

[Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller]

One more idea:

a) count the number of registered users at Sourceforge, Freshmeat,  
GNA and some other similar facilities. Could give a rough indication  
for FOSS developers.
b) count the number of registered users at Linuxquestions could give  
an indication for the number of user.

But as said before: it needs a clear definition. Am I counted as a  
FOSS user if I use a Motorola A760?

Nikolaus Schaller


Am 12.05.2007 um 13:12 schrieb Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller:

>
> Am 12.05.2007 um 13:11 schrieb Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller:
>
>> Well,
>> you could try to compare the participation of some OSS developer  
>> related events (e.g. FOSDEM) to MS Developer Conference(s) or  
>> Apple WWDC. Then you need the total number of (software)  
>> developers worldwide and a simple multiplication would give the  
>> result...
>>
>> But this share is probably not quite reliable, since MS & Apple  
>> developers have to pay for but also can do so, so you count  
>> commercial developers who can afford travel expenses at a  
>> different level.
>>
>> A different approach could be the total market share of MS Windows  
>> vs. Linux which is repoeted regularly by Gartner, IDC and others.  
>> I think I remember approx. 80 to 20 for Desktops+Servers. And  
>> assume that for large projects the number of users is the same  
>> split of the cake as for developers. But if you want to include  
>> Embedded, the picture is quite different. Would you e.g. count  
>> Symbian as FOSS?
>>
>> So, you need a clear definition in advance what you really want to  
>> count.
>>
>> And finally, FSF might have figures to share.
>>
>> Nikolaus Schaller
>>
>> Am 12.05.2007 um 11:07 schrieb sean at openmoko.org:
>>
>>> Dear Community!
>>>
>>> Hopefully you guys can help me. I'm trying to find the number of  
>>> FOSS developers
>>> and users worldwide for some marketing related presentations but  
>>> just can't seem
>>> to find any solid numbers. It would also be very interesting to  
>>> see how this
>>> number compares to the number of developers worldwide.
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any good links they could send me?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Sean
>>>
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>>
>
>
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