Linux users - How do we know? (was Re: cross-platform virus )

[Peter Garrett]

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 13:37:17 +1000
Alexander Jacob Tsykin <stsykin at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wednesday 12 April 2006 11:24, Peter Garrett wrote:
> > On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 10:42:10 +1000
> >
> > Alexander Jacob Tsykin <stsykin at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > Most of Ubuntu's growth is from windows.
> > > >
> > > > Really? Do you have any figures on this? I think it's rather doubtful,
> > > > although if it were true, that would be A Good Thing (tm).
> > > >
> > > > Peter
> > >
> > > Very easy to prove. Once a Linux person learns a distro, its not too
> > > common to move,
[ snips]

> >
> The thing is that most people on the forums are distro-hoppers because they 
> change as they hear about a better distro, and as they know about Linux, 
> they're not afraid of learning a new way of doing things. Most people who use 
> Linux are not like this. They don't use the lists and forums, and probably 
> don't know they exist. Instead they just sit on one distro which they like, 
> more or less forever. Not even upgrading it to a new version until they 
> absolutely have to.

The problem I have with your posts here is that you make sweeping
statements about who Linux users really are without knowing, actually,
whether your description is correct. For example you say:

<quote>
> Most people who use 
> Linux are not like this. They don't use the lists and forums, and probably 
> don't know they exist. Instead they just sit on one distro which they like, 
> more or less forever.
</quote>

I'm just not sure where you are getting your information ;-) How can we
know what "most people who use Linux" are like? 

<joke>
For instance, I'm a dangerous anarchist, with a week's growth of 
beard, who is actively subverting the whole movement ;-) And since I'm a
linux user, it follows that all linux users are unhygienic anarchists,
since I know all about what Linux users are like... anyone who wears a
suit is not a *real* linux user! ( You see the problem - how far do you
want to go with generalisations? )  
</joke>

How can we know that most Ubuntu growth is coming from Windows? You may
well be correct - but it isn't really valid to simply make these claims
without backup.

None of that is a big deal, but hey - this is "Sounder" so I'm
indulging... ;-)

To use a more general example: we can get a much more accurate picture of
the size and nature of the Windows user base, because of its commercial
nature, than we can with Linux. I personally suspect that Linux use is
quite a bit higher than most people think, since it is trivial to share
the software, and there are no "sales" figures for its dissemination. If
someone downloads a copy of Ubuntu, how many installs does that account
for? There's no way of knowing, is there?

Most of the FUD about Linux use vs. Windows use statistics makes the same
error. 

Peter ( no, I'm not really an anarchist... Well actually - how would you
know? ) -- 

Linux User #343161