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Re: [Rival] Windows Vista Drives People MAD

In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
<newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
 wrote
on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:27:50 +0000
<2634420.0C8Ky4o2O3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>
> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Wednesday 06 August 2008 18:50 : \____
>
>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Rex Ballard
>> <rex.ballard@xxxxxxxxx>
>>  wrote
>> on Wed, 6 Aug 2008 07:36:25 -0700 (PDT)
>> <d30f7986-dc21-4a16-ad48-276f07ed7f1c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>> On Aug 6, 8:00 am, "DFS" <nospam@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>> > There are fewer article about Vista these days. Nobody cares about it.
>>>>
>>>> Vista: 17% (1 in 6 users) market share after 18 months of availability
>>>> Linux: 1% (1 in 100 users) market share after 17 years of availability
>>>
>>> In http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
>>> I get
>>> Vista 11.5% 1 in 10 users after 18 months (XP had 33% after 18
>>> months).
>>> Linux+Other is about 9%
>>> Mac is 4.8%
>> 
>> All of these figures are extremely suspect -- although I
>> can't say how to make them better.  The problem is that
>> www.w3schools.com is a self-selected sample, and as any
>> serious pollster can tell you, one can draw no conclusions
>> from such regarding the superset of that sample.
>> 
>> For all we know bots are hitting w3schools.
>> 
>> The same problem presumably plagues hitslink.
>
> Yes, every so-called 'survey'. It's just one among the many reasons why these
> stats cannot be trusted.

Indeed. [*]

> See:
>
> Is Linux Getting the Shaft?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | As I recently reported, there is an order of magnitude difference between the
> | market share of Linux "out there" in the world, and the market share of LInux
> | on Scienceblogs.com and on this very blog. Subsequently, I was trolled by my
> | very own brother "... so, when is Luniux going to reach 1% market share?...."
> | and this item has come out on ZDNet (which we all know is essentially funded
> | by Microsoft, right?): Linux - Still chasing that elusive 1% market share.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | So I went and looked. Here is the description of the database used by the
> | Market Share service that everyone seems to rely on:
> |
> |
> |     We collect data from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive
> |     on-demand network of live stats customers. The data is compiled from
> |     approximately 160 million visitors per month. The information published
> |     is an aggregate of the data from this network of hosted website
> |     statistics. The site unique visitor and referral information is
> |     summarized on a monthly basis.
> |
> | WTF?
> |
> | Is this supposed to be some kind of unbiased sample? But wait, there's
> | more...
> |
> | [More jaw-dropping s*ite]
> |
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | The complexity of this problem is actually rather large. But I can tell you
> | one thing: If you were my graduate student and you came to me with this
> | sampling strategy, I'd send you back to kindergarten. (If I had that power.)
> `----
>
> http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/07/is_linux_getting_the_shaft.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink
>
>
>>>> Linux is an enormous failure as a consumer product, and would have been
>>>> killed off years ago if a return on investment was required.
>>>
>>> Linux on the DESKTOP has faced the full force of Microsoft's $40
>>> billion in leveragaged advertizing revenue,
>>> $40 billion in OEM and Corporate revenue which fund a $4 billion/year
>>> legal and settlements fund.
>> 
>> True, and it's still doing remarkably well, regardless.
>> I also suspect that many Windows-side desktops are in
>> fact dual-boots (certainly three of mine are, although
>> I do not boot into Windows that often).
>
> Some people use Live CDs.

Hmm....yes, another option, at that.

>
>>> Meanwhile, Linux APPLIANCES number in the Billions.  There are now
>>> almost 2 Linux devices for every Windows desktop on the planet.
>>> Routers, TiVo, HDTV, WiFi hubs, and so on.  Linux/Unix also provides
>>> cable DVRs, as well as PayPerView servers.  Nearly EVERY Windows
>>> desktop user couldn't function if they didn't have access to Linux
>>> servers such as Google, Amazon, E-trade, and numerous other Linux
>>> based servers.  Even Microsoft's web sites depend on Linux for load
>>> buffering and load balancing.
>>>
>>> Of course, one of the big spin-offs of Linux was the widespread
>>> acceptance of Open Source Software.
>>>
>>> According to http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
>>> FireFox has 42.6% of the market, which could be as many as 800 million
>>> PCs (since many FF users also use IE and both would be counted in this
>>> survey).
>> 
>> Same problem.  Still, Firefox does seem to have carved out a
>> hefty niche; it might even best IE8.  Microsoft might have
>> a slight problem here....
>
> With the European Commission? For sure. They already play dirty.

Actually, the problem may be far larger.  I'm referring
to the actual users, not just the EUC attempting to
work on behalf thereof (though the EUC's efforts are no
doubt appreciated somewhere in Europe -- the DoJ here
is embroiled in a bit of a scandal so I don't know how
effective they'll be).

In other words...Microsoft is going to be a wee bit
embarrassed if their beautiful flagship browser gets
upstaged by something which (in their minds) should have up
and died because of lack of air supply 5 or so years back.

But instead of dying, Firefox is giving them a massive headache. ;-)

>
>>> There are at least 1/2 billion Open Office deployments in the field
>>> today worldwide.
>>>
>>> And in less than 6 months, ASUS sold 18 million Linux powered EEE PCs.
>>>
>>> Wouldn't it be funny if ASUS with it's EEE PCs suddenly bumped it's
>>> way into the top 10 or even the top 5?
>>>
>>> Notice that when users were given the choice between Linux and
>>> Windows, Linux EEEs outsold Windows EEEs 6 to 4.
>>>
>>> There are even indicators that, thanks to desktop virtualization,
>>> there are almost 6 Linux/Unix desktop deployments for every 4 Windows
>>> Vista copies actually deployed to end-users.
>
>
>
> - -- 
>                 ~~ Best of wishes
>
> Roy S. Schestowitz      |    Play Othello: http://othellomaster.com
> http://Schestowitz.com  |     GNU/Linux     |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
> Mem:   2075800k total,  1610856k used,   464944k free,    52860k buffers
>       http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms

[*] At the risk of being off topic, even traditional
    polling may not be working quite right, as a fair
    percentage of the US population is shifting off the
    traditional land line and going mobile exclusively.
    These tend to be younger and more sophisticated
    individuals.

-- 
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Useless C/C++ Programming Idea #992381111:
while(bit&BITMASK) ;
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

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