I just got my June issue of Linux Journal and inside, among other cool things, is the 2009 Reader’s Choice Awards. I look forward to this issue every year, because it’s a great indicator as to what people are using in the Linux community. This year there were some surprises, at least for me.
Ubuntu now apparently means Linux, even to hard core users like those of us who subscribe to LJ. It has pulled out to the forefront of Linux distributions and now leads the pack by a wide margin. Not surprisingly, Gnome, the Ubuntu default desktop is also on top. I find this fascinating because of all the creative work going into the competition – KDE, in the past few years. Apparently flashy affects are not as important as just working.
Firefox leads the browser category and has for many years now. Thunderbird continues to lead the email programs but Gmail’s web based platform is right behind it. Personally, I stopped using Evolution at home and just use Gmail. Despite loving Gnome, the favorite audio player is still a KDE app, Amarok. I don’t use it.
I won’t rehash every category here, heck, buy the magazine! But I will say what I found interesting. For instance, the favorite programming language on Linux is now Python. WOOt! It even edged out C++, by a percentage point. Java is a close third. Favorite text editor is still Vi. Favorite scripting language is Bash, followed by PHP. PHP? Over Python and Perl? Weird.
The favorite laptop is actually a netbook, the Eee PC. Because of the small keyboard, I won’t be getting one of those. I wonder how well the HP model will do next year, as it comes with Linux now. That one I could go for because of the keyboard size.
All in all, a pretty interesting list of favorites.