<s>
The	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
Counter	I-Application
was	O
a	O
website	O
that	O
attempted	O
to	O
estimate	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
people	O
and	O
machines	O
using	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
last	O
available	O
estimate	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
was	O
91.9	O
million	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
August	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
Counter	I-Application
was	O
started	O
"	O
for	O
fun	O
"	O
with	O
the	O
goal	O
to	O
estimate	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
there	O
are	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
invited	O
users	O
to	O
register	O
themselves	O
as	O
being	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
user	O
and	O
then	O
used	O
various	O
statistical	O
heuristics	O
to	O
estimate	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
who	O
did	O
not	O
register	O
and	O
the	O
total	O
number	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
initially	O
tracked	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
,	O
but	O
later	O
extended	O
to	O
statistics	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
,	O
the	O
machines	O
they	O
use	O
,	O
software	O
they	O
use	O
and	O
in	O
what	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
actually	O
lived	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
second	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
Counter	I-Application
was	O
to	O
help	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
to	O
find	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
Counter	I-Application
was	O
reporting	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
in	O
almost	O
any	O
place	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
set	O
their	O
information	O
to	O
be	O
public	O
,	O
one	O
could	O
easily	O
find	O
those	O
users	O
;	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
could	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
find	O
other	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
who	O
lived	O
somewhere	O
near	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
counter	O
was	O
run	O
by	O
a	O
nonprofit	O
organization	O
called	O
the	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
Counter	I-Application
Project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
received	O
wide	O
technical	O
media	O
coverage	O
,	O
which	O
led	O
to	O
it	O
being	O
slashdotted	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
Today	O
reported	O
how	O
Microsoft	O
Austria	O
used	O
the	O
site	O
for	O
spamming	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
;	O
the	O
counter	O
kept	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
press	O
references	O
,	O
occasionally	O
updated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
code	O
was	O
published	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
in	O
March	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
1st	O
of	O
january	O
2021	O
,	O
they	O
both	O
work	O
together	O
on	O
github	B-Application
for	O
a	O
new	O
linuxcounter/unixcounter	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
