Statistics of use of a language

[Michael Bauer]

Hi Tom,

04/07/2013 20:28, sgrìobh Tom Davies:
> Hi :)
> That usage figure of 1-2% has been quoted for decades without anyone 
> really looking into it.  MS keeps telling us that it's still only 1-2% 
> according to studies they paid for.
They broadly match the site stats I collect from my websites, below the 
data for June

Windows    65.12%
Macintosh    14.75%
iOS    8.62%
Android    5.88%
Linux    3.00%
(not set)    2.00%

Yes, folk have multiple devices so you're really measing devices, not 
users which is important to remember. But I am certain that a figure for 
Linux devices below 5% is realistic, if depressing.

I wasn't arguing which is the better one - I think this just came off a 
question of how many people are using which localization and I was 
pointing out that the langpack download stats are, in my view, not a 
reliable indicator.

For example, for Gaelic related sites such as mine you would expect a 
higher than average % of users with a Gaelic OS. But 77% of the OS 
languages visiting are English, Gaelic at 1.25%. Since Win 8 and Ubuntu 
are the only Gaelic desktop operating systems, that means either has a 
share *less* than 1.25% of visitors to my site. Which is, in fact, 
realistic at gut level and also way below what the langpack downloads 
might suggest.

So what we really need would be ask a site like Wikipedia if they could 
tell us what the OS languages of people are within each OS type.

Michael