Re: Portability and usage statistics (was Re: Seppuku and x_IO_error_handler() )
Mike Scheidler <c23mts(a)eng.delcoelect.com> wrote:
You can't dispute raw numbers, but I don't think this is an
accurate usage
indicator. I'd venture that most of the non-Linux binary kit downloads are
used by more than one person (does an average of 10 sound reasonable?),
while most Linux downloads are single-user.
Just as another data point, I download the XEmacs sources (not
binaries), compile them, and make the binaries available to the rest of
my company (Hewlett-Packard) on an unofficial basis. I don't have any
way of tracking usage, but I can say that HP sites all over the world
have installed my distribution. I'm sure the number of users in HP are
over 100, and probably less than 1000, although it wouldn't surprise me
if the number is *well* over 1000 (I don't know if it's still true, but
I'm told HP has, or used to have, the largest private internet in the
world).
Since October 1995, 799 different systems installed my XEmacs
distribution, for an average of ~23/month. Since June of this year, 88
different systems installed it, for an average of ~29/month. I have no
idea how many of these are installed for use by one person on a
workstation, as opposed for being installed for use by an entire site
(there's at least one such site). Note that I don't "advertise" it;
it's just listed in an internal install catalog (along with piles of
other programs), and I sometimes mention its existence (say, once or
twice a year) in an HP-internal Emacs newsgroup.
--
Darryl Okahata
darrylo(a)sr.hp.com
DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Hewlett-Packard, or of the
little green men that have been following him all day.