Australians Do Not Flock to GNU/Linux, But They Abandon Microsoft Over Time (to Apple's Advantage)
THE status of Free software in Australia - and GNU/Linux down under (even in New Zealand) - is not particularly encouraging. Australia in particular is stuck behind its neighbours, still adoring Apple and Microsoft instead of Software Freedom.
Considering high-profile Australians who develop Linux (e.g. Andrew Morton, Andrew Tridgell and Brendan Greg), that's a bit disappointing. The only silver lining we can find is, Microsoft's share in search fell quite sharply there since all the chatbot hype began (from 4.5% a year ago to about 3.7%, Google gained more than 1%).
One can hope more Australians will discover the benefits of digital rights (no, not DRM from Apple and Microsoft!) and free-as-in-freedom operating systems. Maybe it's something about the mentality and the marketing there. █