Slashdot Mirror
The Linux Counter Relaunches
psychonaut writes "Long-term readers of Slashdot may be familiar with The Linux Counter, which attempts to measure (through surveys and statistics) the number of people using GNU/Linux operating systems. The project started in 1993 and shot to fame six years later, largely as a result of three Slashdot articles (two of which brought the Counter to its knees). After four years of stagnation, project founder Harald Tveit Alvestrand has handed over the reins to a new maintainer, Alexander Mieland. Over the past few months, Mieland has completely redeveloped the project, with a modernized design and support facilities (including a bug tracker, mailing list, RSS feed, and Twitter account). The New Linux Counter is now up and running, with all the data for active users from the old counter. The old site will continue to operate for a time but will soon be shut down and requests redirected to the new site."
I have an account and log in once a year, when I get my reminder email. Usually, I have quite a lot to update: decommissioned machines, upgraded machines, new machines and that's only for my personal machines. They have a script which uses sendmail to update your information. That's unacceptable in a desktop setting. What they should have is a simple, but relatively robust update system like freedns.afraid.org uses. If on top of that they can package their updating script and convince major distros to carry it as an opt-in for default installations, it could get some accurate stats.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
The project started in 1993 and shot to fame six years later, largely as a result of three Slashdot articles (two of which brought the Counter to its knees)
Here's to keeping the tradition alive!
Anybody want my mod points?
I care. Also those manufacturers of complex hardware like Nvidia might care, so that they can justify putting the resources aside to develop Linux drivers.
Well said. I have read much bashing of Nvidia regarding the proprietary nature of their drivers, but I remember them being right at the forefront of manufacturers providing proper drivers at a time when I was unable to get 24-bit colour from the SiS GPU that I had in my box at the time. The fact that they have continued to provide good drivers when most other manufacturers have totally ignored Linux users has done a lot to ensure brand loyalty on my part.
I just don't have the time or the inclination to write my own drivers, and I am honest enough to admit that my own skills in this area are unlikely to stack up well against someone who does this for a living.
This aside, although I bought my first Nvidia card in 1998, I have never replaced one because it has failed. Motherboard manufacturers keep changing their sockets so my old cards no longer fit. But over the years, I have cobbled together a lot of boxes using my old components for various charities (with Linux pre-installed), and those old Riva and GeForce cards are still damn good components for anyone who doesn't need high-end gaming performance.
The reason I don't offer Linux is because every 6 months your drivers break
No they don't.
I've been running Fedora for the last 5 years on my desktop machine, which I use for my business administration as well as personal use, so it's pretty mission critical. In five years, I've only once had my "drivers break", and that was because I was trying the ATI Catalyst drivers rather than the free drivers from my distro. Using the drivers from the distro, I've always had a functioning system. This is something that Just Works. Printer, webcam, bluetooth headsets, audio cards, all work out of the box with the default installation with no extra administration needed.
I've not used Windows since XP, but my memory of adding new hardware to that system was having to install drivers from a CD, reboot the system, plug in the new hardware, reboot the system a couple of more times, search the internet for updated drivers, download them from a website and install them by hand, reboot the system again. How is that better for Joe or Sally to manage than plugging a bit of kit and having it work first time?