lubuntu-desktop team mailing list archive

[Yorvyk <yorvik.ubunto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:08:57 -0500
Philip <exequeryphil@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> First, let me say thank you to everyone on the Lubuntu team.  I have
> been using Lubuntu for over a year now, and it is quite possibly the
> fastest, most efficient operating system I have ever used (and I have
> used many).  Keep up the extraordinary work.
> 
> A few weeks ago on this list, a question was raised about the current
> number of Lubuntu users.  I was a little surprised that no one had a
> clear idea, and that estimates varied widely.  It seems a little
> dangerous from a development standpoint to have so little information
> about your userbase, doesn't it?  Wouldn't it be valuable to determine
> a way of gathering data about how many people use Lubuntu, and how
> they use it?
> 
> I don't ask this because I want to burden you with another task.  I
> may be able to offer some help myself.  I like Lubuntu, and intend to
> use it well into the future.  But operating systems have demonstrated
> a clear tendency to eventually lose touch with and alienate their
> userbase.  I think Lubuntu developers, being better than average,
> might recognize this common problem, and take steps to safeguard
> against it.  One safeguard might be the collection of this data.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> Philip Fielding
> 
Every Linux distribution would like to know how many users it has.  Short of it 'phoning home' every so often nobody seems to have any idea how to get numbers of users.  Estimating numbers of users from downloads is fraught with problems.  I've installed both Lubuntu and Ubuntu a several machines from the one download of each ISO.  Others may download the ISO to try or do a review and never use it again.  Some people use the Distrowatch Page Hit Ranking as an indication of usage but, as pointed out on Linux Outlaws this is more an indication of 'mind share' rather than usage.  So it's just a case of wild guess work in the end.

-- 
Yorvyk