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OS Stats Removed From Google's Zeitgeist

Posted by simoniker on from the teacup-tsunami dept.

Kelly McNeill writes "Google's Zeitgeist service is sometimes used by news sources as a resource to generate install-base (don't call it market share!), statistics for operating systems. osViews contacted Google to bring some clarity to questionable aspects of the OS statistic, to which Google said that Zeitgeist is only a fun search inquiry resource and should not be used to generate statistical information. A couple days after that inquiry, we found that Google has since removed the OS stats from the Zeitgeist service."

62 of 426 comments (clear)

  1. Browser stats also gone by friedegg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know a lot of people were waiting to see the July browser stats to see if Internet Explorer share dropped off after the vulnerability announcements last month.

    --
    Google doesn't index user sigs, so stop trying to "Google Bomb" with them.
    1. Re:Browser stats also gone by IGTeRR0r · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not that it matters...using the firefox User Agent Switcher Extension I changed mine to "Internet Explorer" just to trick people like you into thinking I was still using IE after the vulnerabilities...

    2. Re:Browser stats also gone by Nos. · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't understand while people do this. I'm proud of the fact that I use firefox over IE. I know some pages did display different results if you were using a browser other than IE (didn't Opra get a big payout from MS for this?), but just to fool people and throw off stats doesn't seem like a good reason to me. Like most people on Slashdot, I'd like to see Firefox's market share increase to a point where IE didn't (at least try to) define standards for html,css,xhtml, etc.

    3. Re:Browser stats also gone by McDutchie · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I don't understand while people do this.
      Because there are websites that won't let you in unless you make it think you are using Internet Explorer. If that website happens to be essential to you, you are left without a choice.

      I do think it would be better if it were possible to change the UID string for specific sites, and perhaps even to make it impossible to change it for all sites.

    4. Re:Browser stats also gone by Isbiten · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well by doing so, the people responsible for the site will see that they have about 100% hits from Internet Explorer, so why bother changing? Better would be to bug them with an email threatening to take your business elsewhere.

      --
      I fought the corporate America, and the corporate America bought the law.
    5. Re:Browser stats also gone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Better would be to bug them with an email threatening to take your business elsewhere.

      Better yet would be to take your business elsewhere - and then send a mail saying exactly why you did.

    6. Re:Browser stats also gone by angst_ridden_hipster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hm.

      My browser's user agent string claims to be "Mozilla/4.8 [en] (TRS-80 Model I; U)"

      You'd be surprised how many sites that insist on "modern browsers" still work.

      Ph34r my '1337 Tr@sh-80!

      --
      Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
      www.fogbound.net
    7. Re:Browser stats also gone by chris_mahan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What do you mean bug them with an email? I just take my business elsewhere and let them wallow in their blissful ignorance.

      They don't pay me to give them business advice.

      --

      "Piter, too, is dead."

    8. Re:Browser stats also gone by PitaBred · · Score: 4, Informative

      Konqueror allows you a per-site UserAgent string.

      --
      My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
    9. Re:Browser stats also gone by petabyte · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The User Agent Switcher Extention makes changing the agent as simple as a click. If you set it to IE for all sites you're just bumping up IE's user share which makes it harder to get sites to support standards as opposed to POS software.

    10. Re:Browser stats also gone by NuclearDog · · Score: 4, Funny

      Finally, a thread where this will be on-topic!

      My user agent string: "All your base are belong to us."

      ND

      --
      This statement is forty-five characters long.
    11. Re:Browser stats also gone by Njovich · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I use the user agent string Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html). It gives access to quite a few sites that only give full access to subscribers and Google...

    12. Re:Browser stats also gone by DaveJay · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Better still to change your browser string to get yourself into the site, then (once you've found everything works fine) send a note that says

      "Hey, just so you know, I surfed your site with (browser) with a hack to fool your site into thinking it was IE, and your entire site worked fine. So, your site is compatible with (browser). You can safely remove your "your browser is incompatible" message for this browser."

      They might do it, they might not, but in this case you've done the work for them -- if you don't validate the site, some site-maintaining wonk has to convince their boss to pay for the new browser testing -- and many bosses won't do that.

    13. Re:Browser stats also gone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      and now a surprising number of people I have spoken to won't use Linux because of the type of person who already does.

      You are probably going to get modded troll for saying that but I have noticed some truth to what you said. At the CS dept of the school I work at many students associate Linux with sweaty arrogant zealots and loudmouthed dorks and thus don't use it when they can get by without using it (certain courses require it). They put Linux in the same category as D&D, Star Trek conventions and X-files slash fanfiction. It is a hard pill to swallow but like it or not many people think this way about Linux.

      I would think that those Linux users who really want to see Linux on the desktop would try to clean up the image somehow and quit making Linux users look like a bunch of obnoxious ESR fanboys. Plenty of Linux users are smart, successful professionals who are a total inspiration to everyone who meets them but they don't get the spotlight. Instead thousands of idiots come out yelling "Micro$oft sucks dude!" and people just shrug and walk away. I don't have a solution to this problem. I wish I did though because it is a real problem.

    14. Re:Browser stats also gone by Adam+Wiggins · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I actually emailed a site (planetxusa.com) like this, mentioning that IE is not available for my platform and that the site works fine in my browser, except for the stupid warning box. Their webmaster wrote me back a detailed message - he had never heard of a platform where IE was unavailable (i.e., he only knew of Mac and Windows) and was really curious about it. I answered his questions, and he replied saying that they would take down the warning message. About a weak later it was gone.

      So - sometimes it works! :)

    15. Re:Browser stats also gone by AnyoneEB · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Not all websites are fooled by this. For instance, Expedia refuses to allow disgused Opera users.
      That's probably because the Opera user agent string is the MSIE string and then "Opera", so a normal check will find that the browser is MSIE, but looking specifically for Opera will show that it is in fact Opera. Opera may have an option to set the user agent string exactly, but if not you can always use a proxy server like Privoxy or Proxomitron to do it for you.
      --
      Centralization breaks the internet.
    16. Re:Browser stats also gone by AirNwater · · Score: 4, Informative

      The stats aren't gone from the canadian site. http://www.google.ca/press/zeitgeist.html

    17. Re:Browser stats also gone by DA-MAN · · Score: 3, Funny

      You mean there is an OS out there that IE is not available for?!?!?!

      --
      Can I get an eye poke?
      Dog House Forum
    18. Re:Browser stats also gone by Mycroft_VIII · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "Their webmaster wrote me back a detailed message - he had never heard of a platform where IE was unavailable"
      Am I the only one who read that and wondered how anyone can call themselves ANYTHING that implies computer savy at any level and NOT know there are things out there besides windows and apple?
      Especially anything web related, next this guy will be shocked to find out apache isn't just a tribe of native americans.
      I sincerely hope this isn't your bank or some other site where thier cluelessness can cost you in some way.

      Mycroft

      --
      https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
    19. Re:Browser stats also gone by JAD+lifter · · Score: 3, Insightful


      I don't think that they are judging someone by the operating system they use. I think that they are judging the operating system by the people who use it.

  2. ha by Quasar1999 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have a question for slashdot... can I use your polls for scientific research? Will my request result in slashdot removing their polls section? What kind of a crazy assed reaction is this? Why not just put a disclaimer up on the page that says, not scientific.

    --

    ---
    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
    1. Re:ha by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
      > I have a question for slashdot... can I use your polls for scientific research? Will my request result in slashdot removing their polls section? What kind of a crazy assed reaction is this? Why not just put a disclaimer up on the page that says, not scientific.

      Well, you can't for Slashdot, because the poll page is pretty clear about it, but that reminds me.

      "Can I use Google Zeitgeist for scientific research?"

      Yes ................. 82% 7122 / 82%<BR>
      No .... 18% 1560 / 18% <BR>
      Only if you give CowboyNeal 100,000 shares of GOOG . 0.1% / 1 / 0.1%

      Don't complain about lack of options. Most people are only after for pictures of the latest RIAA pop star's tits. Those are the breaks. Feel free to Google for something else if you're feeling creative. I'd strongly suggest grepping "goatse" out of the past Zeitgeist logs first. It's a good thing that Google Zeitgeist isn't wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, User-Agent spoofers, dynamic IPs, proxies. If you're using these numbers to decide whether to invest in our IPO, you're behaving at least as rationally as anybody else is in this market.

      So if you're using Google Zeitgeist, I'd say go nuts, but only as long as every image search query returns a picture of that squirrel from Fark.

    2. Re:ha by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I have a question for slashdot... can I use your polls for scientific research? Will my request result in slashdot removing their polls section? What kind of a crazy assed reaction is this?

      It's actually typical for a public company. Just imagine that someone sues Google because he was indeed using Google Zeitgeist for some scientific research, unaware that it was just for fun. It doesn't matter that this claim is ridiculous. Its very existence will most likely create negative market reaction. Even if the shares drop for just 1%, if you are among the company's top rank, it will generate enormous loss for you. If you have, say, 100.000.000 dollars in company stock, you have just lost 1 megabuck just because of this crazy accusation. So public companies act rather paranoid in situations like this. That's the reason why media in the US were too chicken to say "tobacco is addictive". Just the very thought of being sued by big tobacco companies made every CEO of every media corporation to wet his pants with fear. Expect more "crazy assed" reactions from Google as they continue to "go public".

  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  4. Re:Bets are on... by DeathPenguin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looooooooonix?

  5. Please put `em back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think I speak for everyone when I say...

    Please put `em back!

  6. MSN by prostoalex · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hopefully MSN will pick up where Google left off and provide free unbiased stats.

  7. I can see why... by TWX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If people are citing Google's "just for fun" figures as something to base critical decisions on, Google could be subject to liability for the accuracy of the figures. Granted, it's not likely that a lawsuit would succeed, but simply having to defend against one wouldn't be very good.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  8. Not in Google's interest by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who needs an operating system when you run all your services through a portal on a cross platform environment like the web?

  9. What I don't get by r.jimenezz · · Score: 4, Interesting
    That Google doesn't want to talk to the press now, I understand.

    That the OS/browser stats would not be too reliable (I assume they are computed similarly, via the User Agent String) I can also easily understand.

    That they took the stats off Zeitgeist, however, that's what I don't get. Wonder if they are now a bit paranoid about all things media after their recent faux pas?

    BTW, those who don't like reading the articles would wish all stories were like this ;)

    --
    The revolution will not be televised.
  10. Re:Bets are on... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've been considering that for awhile. I think Google would do really well if they produced a complete operating system that leveraged their web services and PageRank technology. Imagine if you could finally get rid of those annoying directory structures and just used "Google Hard Drive Search"! And all your bookmarks could be searched in a similar fashion! No need to bother with organizing them!

    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  11. Accuracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The big problem with the Zeitgeist stats, from what I've heard, is that they only recorded the same IP address once. For people who are more likely to have a broadband connection, which is probably true of Mac and Linux users, they get counted less because their IP address changes less frequently. As Google said, it's just for fun.

    1. Re:Accuracy by Aero+Leviathan · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Here, I'll take you through this logically.

      Premise 1: Mac and Linux users are more likely to have broadband connections than Windows users. (I'm not saying that it's true, but for the sake of argument, we will assume it is.)

      Premise 2: Users with broadband have IP addresses that rarely change; users with dialup have IP addresses that change frequently.

      Premise 3: Google counted OS usage by the number of IP addresses that used them.

      Step 1: Premise 1 + 2 implies that Mac and Linux users are more likely than Windows users to have IP addresses that rarely change.

      Step 2: Step 1 + Premise 3 implies that any given Mac or Linux user is likely to be counted by Google's statistics fewer times than any given Windows user.

      Now you see how the results would be skewed in favour of Windows, given the three premises (the first of which supplied by the grandparent). I think I did this right... feel free to correct me if I have erred.

      --
      ~ Aero
  12. It's a real shame by barcodez · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's a real shame Google have removed this interesting stat as it is as good as any browser/os statistic available due to the huge an ecletic user base of Google.

    I guess things are changing at Google and their free , open and considerate attitude is set to change with the IPO.

    The search results I've been getting from Google have been decreasing in usefulness at an alarming rate over the last year - it's sad to see Google go this way.

    --

    ----
  13. Google Cache? by slavemowgli · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is there a Google cache of Google's Zeitgeist?

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    1. Re:Google Cache? by plaa · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is, but it doesn't have the info either. I guess they spider their sites quite often. They've even taken the info off of their previous Year-End Zeitgeists (assuming the data was there).

      However, some other country versions still have them: ca uk

      Get them while you can...

      --

      I doubt, therefore I may be.
    2. Re:Google Cache? by Matheus+Villela · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Google cache is good, but web.archive is best as you can see here

  14. What about slashdot.org statistics? by gmajor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I, for one, would be very interested in seeing the browser and OS breakdown on Slashdot. IIRC, slashdot has not given out this info in the past?

    1. Re:What about slashdot.org statistics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
      Slashdot's userbase would know how to game the results, there's only so many months you can analyse stats from
      Gorganzilla/5.0 Big_Cheeze (X11; U; Linux i686; gaping-anus; rv:1.7) Goatse/20040811 Watercat/0.9.3+
    2. Re:What about slashdot.org statistics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      They did, years ago. It was dropped, depending on whom you believe, because it served no value or because it was embarassing to show 75% Windows hits. Probably both. Slashdotted sites still report an overwhelming majority of Windows/IE hits.

  15. Article text in full by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Problem in Database Connection

    This Website is powered by PostNuke
    Web site powered by PostNuke ADODB database libraryPHP Scripting Language
    Although this site is running the PostNuke software
    it has no other connection to the PostNuke Developers.
    Please refrain from sending messages about this site or its content
    to the PostNuke team, the end will result in an ignored e-mail.

  16. Sigh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You surely do live in the greatest country in the world.

  17. The only reason this article was posted... by rd_syringe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...was so people can't refer to Zeitgeist's damning 1% Linux usage statistic anymore when discussing desktop Linux. If you disagree, let me know why.

    1. Re:The only reason this article was posted... by rd_syringe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, it's not damning to you, but to the "Linux on the desktop will over take Mac within a year" people, it's a damning statistic. I believe the article was accepted as a general discrediting of that statistic. We don't know why Google removed the statistic or how accurate or innaccurate it was. The implication by this article is that the statistic was meaningless or somehow so faulty that Google felt the need to remove it. Unless Google officially states such, I think it's premature to make such assumptions. Just my opinion.

  18. Re:Bets are on... by IGTeRR0r · · Score: 3, Funny

    According to this page:
    http://www.illuminedgaming.com/eogoogle.htm
    (What google will look like in 10 years)
    Google will OWN the earth...so what is the need for OS?

  19. OS and browser stats still up on Canadian Google by rd_syringe · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.google.ca/press/zeitgeist.html

  20. Meanwhile, up north by Otter · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Lesson learned from this morning's "Lunix's desktop share is triple MacOS's!" "No, dumbass, Google Zeitgeist has it at 1%! "No, you M$ astroturfer, that 51% for Windows XP is all Linux users with spoofed browser IDs!" argument:

    Google has pulled OS stats from the US Zeitgeist but Canada still has them. And Lindsay Lohan has pulled ahead of Avril Lavigne.

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  21. Re:Bets are on... by edalytical · · Score: 4, Funny

    Will relevant text ads be displayed based on the content of your files? Or will you have to pay to run Google OS?

    --
    Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
  22. Re:Huh by k98sven · · Score: 5, Funny

    The USS Enterprise was originally given the CV-6 designation to demonstrate that she was a "Carrier Vessel". However, after extensive war operations she was refitted for nighttime/round-the-clock operations. To signify this, her designation was changed to CVN-6 (Carrier Vessel, Night).

    I don't know where you get your facts from, but they're all wrong. The USS Enterprise had the designation NCC-1701. (CC being Constitution-Class)

    After Kirk blew up the original Enterprise, the USS Levant (NCC-1843) was redesignated USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A). And AFAIK, she did not only have round-the-clock operations, the ship was fitted for full five-year missions!

  23. another nail in the coffin of US culture by mindfucker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While you may be correct as to the reasoning that prompted them to do this, it begs the question...

    How fucked up of a society do we live in that people can't provide interesting statistics out of fear of being sued?

    This legal bullshit is the same reason that the US Park Service refuses to release any kind of estimates on crowd sizes for protests in Washington D.C. .... they were sued by Louis Farakahan when they did a crowd size estimate of the Million Man March, that Farakhan said, was intentionally smaller than it really was.

    Insanity.

  24. Re:Bets are on... by anactofgod · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think that if Google's leadership were to try such a thing, they'd be more interested in positioning Google to create an entirely Web-based desktop that is platform agnostic, than a traditional OS.

    During the dotcom era, there was a company out of Maryland (sorry, can't remember the name...WorldOS, maybe?) trying to do this very thing. And there was the Network of Workstations project, that was started at UC-Berkeley (1996 to 1998).

    Why would Google write an OS specific to any one hardware architecture, when, as we all know, "The network is the computer"?

    --

    ---anactofgod---

    "Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
  25. osViews is mine... here's the gist of the article: by oscast · · Score: 5, Informative

    I am the owner of osViews.com and the individual that submitted this slashdot post. It appears as if the article got slashdotted.

    Unfortunately, I don't have a second copy of the article otherwise I would post it here. My Slashdot summarization pretty much captured the gist of the editorial, however there is one part that should be mentioned.

    In Google's Zeitgeist statistic there was a 5% figure that represented what the OS statistic as "other". I thought that this was bizarre because the Linux and Mac statistics even combined were less than the "other" which encapsulated them all.

    I don't believe that the more obscure OSes make up a number that is larger than both Linux and mac combined. This is what prompted me to call Google to get some clarity.

    i thought that perhaps Google was doing some subdivisions within the Linux or Mac stats.

    For example, Google might have only been reporting 3% to represent the OS X installations as opposed to all Mac users and then grouped the non OS X users (Mac Pre OS X) into the aforementioned "other" category.

  26. Re:Do People From GOOGLE Read /.? by Suppafly · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Google has GoogleGuy who responds on a lot of forums. From what I understand, it mostly one guy, but it's a generic name so that anyone that works at google can step up and fill in for him.

  27. Re:Bets are on... by the+pickle · · Score: 4, Informative

    You mean like Apple is planning to do with Spotlight in Tiger?

    p

    --
    In Korea, long hair is for old people!
  28. Re:osViews is mine... here's the gist of the artic by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 4, Informative

    In Google's Zeitgeist statistic there was a 5% figure that represented what the OS statistic as "other". I thought that this was bizarre because the Linux and Mac statistics even combined were less than the "other" which encapsulated them all.

    There's a large network traffic generated not by human surfers but by various bots, scanning the Web for whatever purpose. The bots often identify themselves in a strange way - a comprehensive list of their user-agents can be found here and I always thought that this is actually the majority of the mysterious "other". They are not human users of desktop OS'es, but bots running automated google searches. What do you think?

  29. Re:Microsoft WinFS by starnix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love how people keep saying Microsoft has already done this when the product won't be out for another 2 - 3 years.

    I think it is more correct to say, "Microsoft is trying to do this with WinFS."

    I still think Google would be able to get this "Out the door" before Longhorn arrives if they wanted to since they are in the data searching business.

    Stop believing the hype. Longhorn is NOT a product yet.

  30. osViews.com by bXTr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone who works at osViews.com submits an article about osViews.com. Jeez, people, buy an ad!

    --
    It's a very dark ride.
  31. OS pie charts still available by Cybernetist · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/jan04_pie.gi f
    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/feb04_pie.gi f
    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/mar04_pie.gi f
    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/apr04_pie.gi f
    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/may04_pie.gi f
    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/jun04_pie.gi f
    July doesn't seem to be there
    http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/aug04_pie.gi f

  32. Now available for Konqueror by leonbrooks · · Score: 5, Funny

    Drop this into /usr/share/services/useragentstrings and you can conveniently select it from Konqueror's "Tools/Change Browser Identification" menu at once. In 51 different languages. (-:

    If you like melting webmaster brain cells, use this instead.

    My mailserver used to answer as a "Commodore 64 (with anti-spam cartridge)".

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  33. All This Flaming About Linux on the Desktop... by Trolling4Dollars · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What does it matter if Linux is used by 1% of the visitors to Google or not? In the end, regardless of how many people use Linux, isn't it more important that those of us who do are happily being productive, saving money on software and and (if you are so inclined) being a bit more ethical? I use Linux pretty much exclusively at home and at work. I use Windows at work when I need to as well as Solaris, HP-UX and VMS. I've toyed with the BSDs, and I even pull out my Atari ST for notalgia. The soon-to-arrive baby is getting my wife's old Mac for the nursery. It's all good. For me the biggest selling point for Linux is that all the money I save on software allows me to spend more of my money on hardware. Now who can argue that more money for hardware is a bad thing? Stats be damned. For those of us who enjoy Linux, there is nothing that can be said to take away that feeling. Many of us are willing to help others get accustomed and aren't lunatic fanboys. I think in the end, there will be more of us than there are those types of people.

    --
    Un-news
  34. Non-US Stats by ischorr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had noticed the browser/OS stats thing the other day and sent an email about it. To my surprise I got back an answer from "David Lemin" (dlemin@google.com) within a couple hours: Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Google Zeitgeist. As a result of user feedback we have decided to focus our efforts on the international expansion of the Google Zeitgeist and will no longer be publishing data about Web browsers, operating systems and languages used to access Google. You can view historic data in the Google Zeitgeist archives, http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/archive.html . ...Which is interesting, though I'm having trouble believing the thing about "user feedback". Were there that many people complaining about the stats in some way?

  35. Re:Your Sig by ValourX · · Score: 3, Informative

    First of all, it's OSTG. Name change happened about three weeks ago.

    Anyway, Slashdot is almost completely separate from the rest of the OSTG sites. They all have the same Editor In Chief (Roblimo), but he doesn't dictate content to the writers; our primary requirement is to follow what it says on the masthead. I write for NewsForge and Linux.com and I have never met or spoken with Rob Malda. I don't even know what he looks like. If I write a story for NF and post it to the Slashdot submission bin, I have no more chance of getting it on Slashdot than when all of my content was posted on The Jem Report. Check my recent submissions list if you don't believe me.

    Slashdot is not a news site, it is a blog -- a discussion site where people talk about current events in the IT industry and related topics. NewsForge is a news site, IT Manager's Journal is a news site, and Linux.com is really more of a review site -- no news, but very nice business-oriented content. It just so happens that on NF, Lc, and ITMJ we publish some of the industry's best news and reviews. If those three sites were not part of the same parent company as Slashdot, we would still regularly get our stories into the Slashdot submission bin.

    The people who have editorial control over these sites are highly professional and are constantly guarding the integrity of each OSTG site. The only agenda that we have is posted on the masthead of each site... the online newspaper for Linux and open source; the enterprise Linux resource; tracking the evolution of IT; news for nerds, stuff that matters.

    Little of our work is specifically anti-Microsoft. It just so happens that Microsoft is a pain in the ass, throwing its weight around to harrass smaller software companies, astroturfing (although the worst astroturfing I've seen lately comes from Linux software companies, not Microsoft or SCO), spreading heinous FUD, funding misleading studies and creating monsters like Ken Brown and Rob Enderle. Microsoft hates Linux and free software, and as they continue to fight, we will continue to write about what they're doing.

    But it's easier to just pass us all off as a bunch of unprofessional hacks who enjoy manipulating innocent readers into believing our sick and twisted agenda. Because you believe everything you read and can't think critically or make decisions for yourself, right? Gosh I hope so -- otherwise it's curtains for online journalists.

    -Jem