The article quotes Al Gillen, an IDC analyst who is looking at enterprise adoption rates of server systems. I can't find fault with his general statement on the Unix marketplace, wherein he states that with the exception of Linux on x86-based platforms, all Unix and Unix-like systems use is contracting in the marketplace....if you count physical platforms, of course. I expect virtualization in the data center is a major factor in this particular view of the marketplace, assuming the count is of physical platforms.
Unfortunately the article is short, and has only a small quote, taken out of its context from with a presentation or white paper, or perhaps from the midst of a telephone conversation. I would tend to think the complete picture of the OS marketplace from Mr. Gillen, in its full context, would be more readily accepted.
Disclaimer: Earlier in my career, I engaged with IDC analysts regularly. I both provided information for reports IDC published, and employed their analysts as consultants. I have never met Mr. Gillen, nor used his particular services.
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