On Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 01:13:55PM +0200, Thijs Kinkhorst wrote: > On Thu, 2007-04-12 at 05:29 -0400, Joey Hess wrote: > > I wonder if it would be reasonable to make d-i hit one of two urls > > depending on whether the user chose to enable popcon, and count the > > results. > > Since there are some potential drawbacks to this functionality, what > concrete gain would the project have for collecting that information?
As suggested by a Linux.com article about what Fedora did[1], you can use it to be more convincing towards others. For example, when trying to convince a software supplier to change license terms to be DFSG-free, it will sound more convincing if we can actually give some better estimate on how many users Debian has than "eh, no idea actually". To quote the article: | The metrics gleaned from Fedora's data collection amount to more than | just a chance for developers to pat themselves on the back, however. | They also provide the opportunity to show the growing number of Linux | users within the computing community which, in turn, may goose hardware | vendors into offering more Linux-friendly goods and services. | | "This provides objective data that helps prove Linux is growing and it | helps build a case for Linux in general" says Spevack. "Also, we 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." --Jeroen [1] http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/2137215 -- Jeroen van Wolffelaar [EMAIL PROTECTED] (also for Jabber & MSN; ICQ: 33944357) http://Jeroen.A-Eskwadraat.nl -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]