A fascinating little survey out this week from Web application developer firm Eldarion reveals that most devotees of Open Source are also Apple users. Indeed, they use Apple hardware “overwhelmingly” over other products and systems, with nearly three out of four (73%) open source contributors users of at least some Apple products.
Eldarion conducted an online survey of three categories:
people who use and contribute to open source,
people who use open source but don’t contribute to it, and
people who neither contribute nor (knowingly) use open source.
One hundred thirty-two people responded to the survey during March and April 2015. A clear majority majority of open source contributors (65%) use OS X as their main operating system, a surprisingly low 22% use Linux (vs. 7% of non-contributors), and just 8% use Microsoft Windows (vs. 21% of non-contributors).
However, the survey did indicate that Microsoft’s reputation for being hostile to OSS seems to be moderating least for some respondents; one noting that “Microsoft has open sourced a lot of stuff over the past few years, while Apple has tried to control everything.”
More than half (57%) of open source contributors surveyed use the iPhone, and 38% use an Android phone.
The top reason given by open source contributors for choosing Apple was “I like the ecosystem” (33%), followed by dependability (30%), “better than Microsoft” (21%), and other (16%).
The top reason given by the minority of open source contributors who avoid Apple entirely was because Apple is the antithesis of open source (50%), followed by the clichéd “it’s overpriced and not worth the money” (31%), “it’s so cool it’s uncool” (13%), and “other” (6%).
“Our online survey revealed some illuminating insights,” said James Tauber, CEO of Eldarion. “By and large, the open source community is composed of intelligent, independent-minded thinkers who are also pragmatists. It’s no surprise that a diversity of opinions were reflected in our survey. The OSS community might like to gripe about Apple, but the fact remains that most of us still rely on Apple because we value what the company offers.”
I can identify with the dichotomy of being idealistically partial to Open Source but a user of Apple hardware and operating systems. The freedom from proprietary gatekeeping and economy of using Open Source software appeals, at least theoretically, and seems to be the polar antithesis of Apple’s highly proprietary “walled garden”—especially with the iOS patch. However, what’s kept me consistently coming back to Apple for nearly a quarter of a century now is the low hassle Apple hardware and OS software imposes on the user. Just the relative freedom from battling malware has probably added months to my life.
As for the “not worth the money” trope, the quality, durability and high standard of finish of Apple hardware has proven itself over and over again. Apple machines look tastefully great, feel wonderful to handle, and more often than not will become obsolete before they break or wear out. All that has value, some of which can’t be measured in dollars and cents. The old Apple “It just works” claim is abidingly well-founded.
As for software, Apple typically bundles a lot of useful stuff with its OS X and iOS devices, which adds comparative value. I’m inclined to use what I like and what works well for me, and if it’s free or Open Source, so much the better. I do draw the line at subscriptionware, which is IMHO a particular rip-off.
I’m not shocked, a lot of OSS people prefer to not use Microsoft whenever possible.
I’m glad that Mac OS and now Chrome are competing against Microsoft in the mainstream. It’s not like Desktop Linux ever reached critical mass. Not even Ubuntu’s user friendly enough and well supported imho. Not that they’re selling Ubuntu or Mint in stores.
A fascinating little survey out this week from Web application developer firm Eldarion reveals that most devotees of Open Source are also Apple users. Indeed, they use Apple hardware “overwhelmingly” over other products and systems, with nearly three out of four (73%) open source contributors users of at least some Apple products.
One hundred thirty-two people responded to the survey during March and April 2015. A clear majority majority of open source contributors (65%) use OS X as their main operating system, a surprisingly low 22% use Linux (vs. 7% of non-contributors), and just 8% use Microsoft Windows (vs. 21% of non-contributors).
However, the survey did indicate that Microsoft’s reputation for being hostile to OSS seems to be moderating least for some respondents; one noting that “Microsoft has open sourced a lot of stuff over the past few years, while Apple has tried to control everything.”
More than half (57%) of open source contributors surveyed use the iPhone, and 38% use an Android phone.
The top reason given by open source contributors for choosing Apple was “I like the ecosystem” (33%), followed by dependability (30%), “better than Microsoft” (21%), and other (16%).
The top reason given by the minority of open source contributors who avoid Apple entirely was because Apple is the antithesis of open source (50%), followed by the clichéd “it’s overpriced and not worth the money” (31%), “it’s so cool it’s uncool” (13%), and “other” (6%).
“Our online survey revealed some illuminating insights,” said James Tauber, CEO of Eldarion. “By and large, the open source community is composed of intelligent, independent-minded thinkers who are also pragmatists. It’s no surprise that a diversity of opinions were reflected in our survey. The OSS community might like to gripe about Apple, but the fact remains that most of us still rely on Apple because we value what the company offers.”
I can identify with the dichotomy of being idealistically partial to Open Source but a user of Apple hardware and operating systems. The freedom from proprietary gatekeeping and economy of using Open Source software appeals, at least theoretically, and seems to be the polar antithesis of Apple’s highly proprietary “walled garden”—especially with the iOS patch. However, what’s kept me consistently coming back to Apple for nearly a quarter of a century now is the low hassle Apple hardware and OS software imposes on the user. Just the relative freedom from battling malware has probably added months to my life.
As for the “not worth the money” trope, the quality, durability and high standard of finish of Apple hardware has proven itself over and over again. Apple machines look tastefully great, feel wonderful to handle, and more often than not will become obsolete before they break or wear out. All that has value, some of which can’t be measured in dollars and cents. The old Apple “It just works” claim is abidingly well-founded.
As for software, Apple typically bundles a lot of useful stuff with its OS X and iOS devices, which adds comparative value. I’m inclined to use what I like and what works well for me, and if it’s free or Open Source, so much the better. I do draw the line at subscriptionware, which is IMHO a particular rip-off.
For a full downloadable infographic of the survey highlights and additional findings from the survey, visit eldarion.com/surveyOSS and eldarion.com/blog.
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