Python Usage Statistics

[Anand Pillai]

Hi Folks 

     (posting after a loooong time...)

    I have been contracted by an Indian publisher to author an
introductory text book on Python. As a part of the introductory
chapter, I thought it would be a good idea to present a number, a
round-about figure on the approximate *actual* usage of Python out
there in number of developers and/or installations.

    Scrounging the Web for such statistics is proving elusive. The PBF
website seems to be the official place for these, but there also they
just have listings of companies/instituitions using Python, not any
numbers.

    Has anybody done an actual market survey anytime recently on
Python usage in the software community? If so, where can I get access
to this information? I would be more interested in the number of
developers, both commercial/non-commercial who are doing development
using Python. Since almost every Linux distro now a days contains
Python by default, a number based on the installations could prove
faulty.

Have a nice day.
     
-Anand