Is Linux Really the Most Used OS in the World?

Yes.  Well, maybe.  OK, yes.  Who uses Linux?  Almost every time you go online you are on a Linux server.  Your Android phone is based on a Linux kernel.  TV's and appliances that connect to the internet. probably some cars, and lots of other products similar to these are based on the Linux kernel.

Now, what do Linux desktop users call Linux?  We call it FOSS (Free Open Source Software) or FLOSS (Free Libre Open Source Software).  When I say free I'm not really talking about free as in money but free as in anybody can follow the GPL and use FOSS software when they want it, and 99% is free in price.  There is some proprietary software available for Linux, like Google Chrome Browser, but I use their open-source version, Chromium.  Look recently at Manjaro's announcement to include Free Office, which is proprietary and all the fallout they received.  Look at Ubuntu and the fallout they got over having an Amazon icon on their Unity releases.  They caught hell.  Manjaro smartly backtracked and offer it as a choice on their installer.  People were even complaining about ClearOS, which was later clarified that the things people thought were insecure could be opted out of, just like Ubuntu's information collection.  The Linux desktop community want FOSS.

Now, take all the Linux servers.  Are they really FOSS.  Yes and no.  Who maintains the servers?  Largely RHEL (Fedora), Canonical (Ubuntu), CentOS (downstream RHEL), Oracle Solaris (Open Solaris), SUSE (Open Suse), and ClearOS (downstream RHEL) by Intel, are big companies that make big bucks maintaining and operating these servers.  They do come up with proprietary software but they do trickle it down to their free versions, and then this software can become better through community involvement.  Lots of other servers are run off the branches of these operating systems.  300+ software distros based on 4 or 5 main distros are involved.  RHEL is there own, Canonical is Debian, Suse is based on Slackware, and actually, Oracle Solaris is Unix and their own.  We are now seeing Municipalities or smaller governments switching to everything Linux, for security and licensing.

Is Android actually Linux?  Is Chromebook actually Linux?  They are built off the Linux kernel but no, they are not Linux. People can build apps for them and present them upstream to Google, but these are proprietary and the only thing in common with Linux is the Kernel. 

Will Linux ever be on a phone, yes, but so small that they will be lower than Windows in market share if Windows even still offers a phone.  The only way for Linux to get on a phone is if somebody like Samsung, or maybe even Huawei.  Huawei might go to Linux just to get out from under the Google umbrella, with Huawei being a Chinese company.  Will Huawei be a problem being Chinese?  No.  I'm sure there will be auditing of the system like any other system and still all the conspiracy theorist will be claiming the Chinese are spying.  But who's to say somebody is not listening in on Androids, Alexas, Siris, or Hey BooBoo (Google).

But to answer my first question, Yes, Linux is the most used computer operating system in the world.

Just another late night ramble by LqLarry