[OT] Free software versus software idea patents

[Ian Kelly]

On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 3:22 AM, harrismh777 <harrismh777 at charter.net> wrote:
>    This is very difficult... and I'm not dodging the ball here... its just
> the truth. The 'market share' data are bogus. Reason? ... because the free
> software 'market' is not a market.

This is just word-play.  It has no bearing on the accuracy of the
data, because the data are not necessarily based on sales.

> It is not measured in any way, and it is almost impossible to determine therefore in any accurate fashion. There
> really are no data... what we need here is a census of sorts.

There is at least one method of measuring it without resorting to
sales figures: logging user-agent data from web browsers.  Is it
perfectly accurate?  Of course not.  But there are a number of
different organizations that do this, sampling hundreds of thousands
of different websites, and they consistently report that the various
versions of Windows have a total usage share ranging from 80% to 90%.
That at least gives us an upper and lower bound with a great deal of
confidence.  In the same data, Apple systems range from about 7% to
15%, and Linux musters a meager 1% to 3%.

>    IE is dead. It is flat dead... almost nobody is using it...
>
>    The market data are worthless in this discussion, because free software
> and free software platforms are not measured in the 'market'.

Did you actually look at the links I provided you with?  FOSS browsers
are absolutely represented there.  Again, that data is not based on
sales!  It is based on user-agent logging.

> Please allow
> me one more anecdote... I have purchased several machines over the last ten
> years... all of them preloaded with Windows (something) and all of them
> running IE (something).  NONE of those machines ever saw the light of day as
> "Windows" machines. I purchased the hardware *only* recovered my cost on the
> M$ license, and quickly loaded my linux system of choice... and I've used
> them all, believe me.
>    The point here is that the 'market' data would show that my machines were
> purchased, installed, and running... activated even.

Wrong!  The data that I am talking about would report those as Linux
systems, provided that you use them for web-browsing.  Otherwise, it
would not report them at all.

> ... just eggs and ham...    Give me a break !!!   I don't even know one
> person who has Win7 installed, running, and likes it... not even one.

I have it installed and running, and I like it for what it is.  An
easy-to-use platform with a wide range of software options that
requires little time investment from me for installation,
configuration, and maintenance.  I would not and do not use it for
everything, but I am able to appreciate the convenience.  So now you
can say that you know one person.

Cheers,
Ian