Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet) [LWN.net]

ZDNet searches the search engines for what's hot.. "The top technology search term for 2002 was MP3, indicating a continued demand for the compression technology. The mobile phone texting format, SMS, was in second place, followed by the compression tool Winzip, and Linux at number four, beating ninth-placed Microsoft in the Google stakes."

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Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 17, 2002 20:56 UTC (Tue) by stijn (subscriber, #570) [Link] (4 responses)

I always wonder what people hope to find using one-word
search terms, as I nearly never use single-word-searches myself.
It is conceivable that someone who has heard this 'linux'
thing at two consecutive occasions just lets it fly. But what
is someone thinking when searching for 'windows', what could
the distribution of reasons and their frequencies be?
I am genuinely interested. Looking for general help on windows?

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 17, 2002 21:07 UTC (Tue) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] (3 responses)

I had assumed they were splitting out the various search terms. Thus, a search for "linux emu10k1 problems" would rack up a point for Linux. But I don't know.

(For those who are curious, the top search terms on LWN are linux, kernel, redhat, scheduler, summit, thread, patch, server, ext3, ide, file, driver, ...)

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 18, 2002 12:57 UTC (Wed) by stijn (subscriber, #570) [Link] (1 responses)

Ah yes of course that is a reasonable assumption. Silly me.
It would be nice to know for sure though, I am going to see
if Google provides more details.

Top LWN search term

Posted Dec 19, 2002 12:15 UTC (Thu) by alspnost (guest, #2763) [Link]

I must say, I'm slightly amused that the top search term on LWN is "linux". What are they hoping to find? I'd guess there would be one or two matches in the results, but having already arrived at the world's best Linux site, you'd think they would then look for something more specific ;-)

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 20, 2002 9:44 UTC (Fri) by stijn (subscriber, #570) [Link]

Probably noone is going to read this anymore, but ..
I sent an email to Google to learn about the Zeitgeist construction,
and they were kind enough to answer. Turns out that they really
measure *queries* and not (single) words. Allthough those single-word
search queries may thus not be very useful in my eyes, this probably
makes them even better reflections of the 'zeitgeist'.

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 18, 2002 0:24 UTC (Wed) by larryr (guest, #4030) [Link] (1 responses)

Obviously people using Microsoft technologies are busy successfully using it, while most people trying to use Linux are still searching for ways to get it to work.

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 18, 2002 2:11 UTC (Wed) by anand (guest, #414) [Link]

Actually MS customers are "Busy" dealing with trying-to-maintain a secure/available network and have no time to go to google. Linux/Unix admins have more free time (since we do not have to struggle to keep our machines up, secure). So we go out and have more fun!

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 18, 2002 8:57 UTC (Wed) by libra (guest, #2515) [Link] (1 responses)

Maybe I can also give a clue to google analysts to explain the presence of xbox high in the top ten. I think that some people, like myself, are sometime making a research about "linux xbox" to see what is the state of the project of porting linux on xbox. Such a request would give a point to both linux and xbox, although the real topic is only "linux" in such a case.

Define "the real topic"

Posted Dec 18, 2002 17:55 UTC (Wed) by proski (guest, #104) [Link]

What is "the real topic" in your definition? Why is "linux" real while "xbox" isn't? I just don't understand.

I realize that the term "out-Google" in the article doesn't invite a serious discussion, but some comments are making very broad assumptions without any attempt to justify them.

Linux out-Googles Microsoft (ZDNet)

Posted Dec 19, 2002 9:02 UTC (Thu) by leandro (guest, #1460) [Link]

Last time I checked, WinZip is a Wintel-only piece of software, and most MP3s probably get played on Wintel systems... sad but true.