Provide a GUI option in the installer to enable popcon

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

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Andrew Sayers wrote on 23/06/09 17:55:
>...
> 	The "submit statistical information" page in "System >
> 	Administration > Software Sources > Statistics" should be
> 	presented during the installation process.  The box should
> 	be checked by default in pre-RC versions of Ubuntu, and
> 	unchecked in stable versions.
> 
> This would enable or disable the Ubuntu Popularity Contest 
> (popcon.ubuntu.com), which is currently installed but disabled by
> default.

We're constantly trying to make the Ubuntu installation process simpler.
And explaining the Popularity Contest in an understandable way, in the
installer which is completely out of context, would be quite difficult.

As part of the AppCenter design work, I hope to make the popcon option
more prominent in context.

>...
> If just 1% of Ubuntu users tick the box, that gives us enough data to 
> improve Ubuntu by justifying our decisions with evidence.
>...

The absolute size of a sample is more important, statistically, than its
relative size. In other words, 1136581 popcon submissions is a large
enough sample regardless of how many Ubuntu users there are in total.
What is more important now is reducing bias -- bias towards current
users against potential users, towards users who fiddle with settings
against users who don't, and so on.

Cheers
- --
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/

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