Competitive differentiation in the Linux software market is based on the ability of vendors to provide add-on utilities and support services, since they are obliged to distribute the operating system for free. And as the software and services bundles available for the Linux operating system become more sophisticated, clear buying patterns are starting to emerge. Linux Magazine UK recently conducted a survey among its readers that reveals that Mandrake Linux from French vendor MandrakeSoft is the most widely used Linux distribution in the UK, closely followed by US supplier Red Hat, and German company SuSE.
