Fedora Metrics Help Whole Linux Community

lisah writes "When Fedora released Fedora Core 6 late last year, the team decided to track the number of users with unique IP addresses who connected to yum in search of updates for a new installation of FC6. According to the data they collected, FC6 crossed the one-million user mark in just 74 days. Fedora Project Leader Max Spevack says that while it's great to use metrics to better understand what users want, the real value lies in its ability to encourage hardware vendors to more offer more Linux-oriented goods and services. Spevack told Linux.com: '[W]e always say we wish hardware vendors had more [Linux-capable] drivers. Well, if you can go to them and say, "Hey, there's millions of people using this," then maybe they will listen. In the real world, you need data to prove your case. Well, here it is.'" Linux.com and Slashdot are both owned by OSTG.

1,000,001 I can't switch but would like to

[quixote9]

I have legacy hardware, and too little knowledge, so I'm too afraid to switch from Core 3 to 6. God only knows what would break, and I sure don't know enough to work around it. But if I could get 6, I'd be in their statistic too. There's bound to be more people like me, who can't get 6 for some reason. So that number is a low estimate!

Saddly...

[DrYak]

Saddly this metric will be very quickly attacked because of all users who have broadband connections with IP changing every 24 hours.

Maybe counting how many different IPs downloaded *1* given critical update will be more precise (based on the assumption that even users with non permanent IP will download the patch once to secure their machines, and then won't download it again).

But even if it lacks precision, it is still a good indicator that Linux *IS* in fact popular and much more widespread than people think.
It just lacks sales figures to prove it. ...

Specially when compared to the so-many "Vista didn't get a warm welcome" reports we read a lot those days.

Re:1,000,001 I can't switch but would like to

[chrwei]

i had no idea people still had these kinds of problems, they are what drove me from RH/Mandrake years ago. I moved to Debian Sarge (before it was "stable" even) and even did a dist-upgrade from sarge to ubuntu on one system. "apt" upgrades are rarely a problem even when the system is "live" and not booted off a CD, and never an issue if done from the console so that when upgrading libs the X server doens't crash on you.

Oldest system I do this with a 486DX2 50Mhz with 32 Meg ram and there's never a problem. It's actualy an HP Network Scanjet 5 with an Ubuntu "command line" install and the Enhanced [madole.net] scripts to run the interface, no idea where else a 486 with linux would be all that usefull to maintain though I'm sure there are some out there.