Re: tlug: TurboLinux outsells MacOS in Japan

["Manuel M. T. Chakravarty" <chak@example.com>]

dave@?om (David E) wrote,

> At  0:56 PM 98.10.28 +0900, Scott Stone wrote:
> >> 
> >> PHT announced that one independent survey shows them at number two in
> >> retail OS sales in Japan (#1 being Microsoft with 69.9%, PHT having
> >> 7.35%, and Apple at 6.9%).
> >Note that these figures don't include OEM sales, which would almost
> >definitely put Apple ahead of us (ie, sales of new Macintoshes with MacOS
> >installed).
> >
> 
> I hate to be a wet blanket, but this is like an example straight out of a
> book I have called "How to Lie With Statistics". 

I think all statistics lies, so this it not too surprising...

> The announcement gives the strong impression that TurboLinux has higher
> sales than MacOS, but the fine print (which doesn't seem to be included in
> the announcement itself, surprise, surprise) tells us that the comparison
> is actually between almost 100% of TL sales (since it doesn't generally
> come bundled with PCs) and a very small percentage of MacOS sales (since
> the MacOS always comes with the machine and only a small percentage of
> users upgrade).

...but, you should also note that the figures do not include 
sales via shops specialized in UNIX or bookstores -- places
where the announcement claims TL is strong.  So, the figures 
are skewed both in favour of TL *and* in favour of MacOS :-)

Manuel
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