2011 September 01 archive at Robert Pogson

Archive for September 1st, 2011

Android/Linux Tablets Are Alive and Well

Published by Robert Pogson September 1st, 2011 in technology. 51 Comments

I should not have to write about this again but stories are popping up all over the web that Android/Linux tablets are not selling well against iPad and that iPad is pulling away. Nothing could be further from the truth:

Amazon.com shows 8 Android tablets selling with greater popularity than iPad. Those 8 all have 4 stars just like the iPad. Between the iPad 16 gB and the 32gB there are three more Android/Linux tablets.
iSuppli, which fawns over iPad, draws a chart showing iPad losing its majority to Android/Linux in 2012.
Even The Register gets in on the act.

The truth is that Android/Linux on tablets is doing very well considering that only a few tablets with the latest Android/Linux version are out there. They are selling well and by Christmas we will see suppliers maxed out with Android/Linux tablets. The truth is that Android 2.x kicked Apple’s butt on smart phones and Android 3.x will on tablets. Android 3.x is only on a tiny proportion of devices. Android 3.x has not even been properly released. The source code to much of it is not available. 3.0 first sold on Xooms in February, 2011. 4.0 is expected in Q4 2011 and should be released in source code for smart phones and tablets.

That Android/Linux tablets are doing so well using a release designed for smart phones is an indication of how robust Android/Linux will be when it is ready to meet iPad.

- Robert Pogson

Android/Linux Arrives on Most Smart Phones in USA

Published by Robert Pogson September 1st, 2011 in technology. 41 Comments

A survey of smart phone subscribers over 13 up to July 11 has some interesting numbers. It gives total numbers of smart phones, growth rate of smart phones and shares. If I express the shares as millions of smart phones I can calculate the growth rate of the installed base by platform. Android/Linux is growing at nearly twice the rate of iOS and pulling far ahead. The numbers of new Android/Linux subscriptions can almost account for all the increase in smart phones, indicating that many who already own a smart phone will replace it. Presumably Android/Linux is replacing phones and arriving on new phones while everyone else is replacing and being cast off. The others includes Phoney7 which is not only losing share but numbers of units in service. At this rate Android/linux will have a majority by the end of 2011.

Platform	Smart Phones in USA (millions)		Growth (%/year)
	3 mo to 2011-4-11	3 mo to 2011-7-11
	74.7	82.2	40.0
Android	27.2	34.4	105.2
iOS	19.4	22.2	56.8
others	28.1	25.6	-34.8

see comScore Reports July 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

This shows what x/Linux can do in fair competition with a good channel to retail shelves. There’s no reason fair competition should not exist in personal computers of all kinds. Use GNU/Linux.

- Robert Pogson

Age Discrimination

Published by Robert Pogson September 1st, 2011 in technology. 9 Comments

“Most high-tech employers would likely deny that age discrimination is an issue at their company. But many IT workers over 50 beg to differ, saying they have experienced age bias or know someone who has”

Could be the same for me in education. I was reading a contract yesterday that described “early retirement” for folks with ten years experience/55+. Are they really going to hire an old man like me? The contract, I believe, described voluntary early retirement but still, it’s the thought that counts. Why are folks in their wise old years undesirable in the workplace? They are so undesirable that 60% of a year’s salary was offered as inducement. I do know that many schools have tight budgets and we old guys cost a lot more than the younger kids.

see Age bias in IT: The reality behind the rumors

- Robert Pogson

Attack on Kernel.org

Published by Robert Pogson September 1st, 2011 in technology. 11 Comments

From information published on the web we know:

servers at kernel.org were under the control of intruders until August 28,
the attack lasted more than two weeks and involved Phalanx which snaffles SSH keys,

It is possible that this is an echo of the infamous weak ssh-keys in Debian although Netcraft lists the site as running Fedora. All it would take is a system administrator generating keys on a Debian GNU/Linux system years ago and spreading them around… If the Fedora system did not pick them up, the intruders could have walked in easily.

- Robert Pogson