The most popular mobile operating system is Android. One of the most popular non-Windows operating systems is Canonical's Ubuntu. And, Google's is really pushing its Chrome OS-powered Chromebooks in the retail market. What does all this have in common? Each operating system is based on Linux and neither Google nor Canonical is mentioning that fact.

That has some Linux fans upset. I've been getting mail from users who are ticked off that Linux isn't getting mentioned more. It bugs me a bit too, but you know what? I understand exactly why Google and Canonical are doing this.

Think about it.