Linux loses its luster as a darling among developers

Computerworld - Linux had a big birthday recently -- its 20th -- but the event may have been a tad bittersweet for its most devoted fans. According to recent results of the annual application development survey from Santa Cruz, Calif.-based researcher Evans Data Corp., Linux has slipped to third place in popularity, behind Mac OS and, of course, Windows.

OS X is now the primary development platform of 7.9% of developers, the survey found, while only 5.6% of developers use Linux.

"I'm not surprised to see the uptick," says Al Hilwa, program director for applications development software at IDC. "The Mac is seeing a surge, and I've seen a lot of developers switching."

Computerworld - Linux had a big birthday recently -- its 20th -- but the event may have been a tad bittersweet for its most devoted fans. According to recent results of the annual application development survey from Santa Cruz, Calif.-based researcher Evans Data Corp., Linux has slipped to third place in popularity, behind Mac OS and, of course, Windows.

OS X is now the primary development platform of 7.9% of developers, the survey found, while only 5.6% of developers use Linux.

"I'm not surprised to see the uptick," says Al Hilwa, program director for applications development software at IDC. "The Mac is seeing a surge, and I've seen a lot of developers switching."

What do these results really indicate? Apple has always targeted "creative professionals," but that used to mean graphics designers and their ilk, and not software developers.

But ever since the late Steve Jobs swapped in Unix BSD as the underlying operating system for Apple computers, OS X and Linux have shared a common heritage. This means developers have more in common than ever before. And they certainly have a common enemy: the Windows platform, which still attracts more than 80% of developers, according to the Evans survey.

In talking to Linux and OS X developers, each set continues to have its preferences. Linux developers love the cost, not only of the operating system (free), but also of the hardware they use (cheap), not to mention being able to tinker and share in true open-source fashion. OS X developers love the simplicity of the interface, not to mention the cool applications they can create for the latest generation of Apple devices.

Beyond that, it's important to note that the results of the Evans survey relate solely to development platforms, not deployment platforms; Linux's status as a server operating system is unchallenged. According to Evans, "Still more than twice as many developers primarily target Linux as do Mac."

Also, both Linux and OS X developers admit there are drawbacks to their chosen development platform. As ZapThink senior analyst Erich Oliphant points out, "There are always wrinkles. A few years ago, there were Java issues on the Mac because Apple was interpreting the standard differently than Sun."

With the OpenJDK announcement from Apple and Oracle in late 2010, that issue at least seems to have been addressed, but Oliphant's larger point remains -- app dev perfection is a moving target.

Why developers love Linux

There are two issues that keep developers loyal to Linux: cost and capability. It's not that OS X isn't capable -- it is, they say. But for programmers who want to tinker -- to fix things themselves before waiting for Apple or Microsoft to deal with it -- Linux is nirvana. They're like the guys who keep a classic car in their garage and won't let a mechanic touch it.

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