On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 12:19:12PM +0800, Emmanuel Noobadmin wrote: > Perhaps only a small handful keep "whining" about the situation. > However, the same idea that 95% of CentOS users never post to the ML > is also applicable to the complainer population. For every complainer, > there are probably 9 other who feels the same way and/or may be > deciding against the project without posting a single word. I'll take that bet. I'd be curious to see some stats on downloads now that 5.6 is out; along with torrent activity. While neither are a definitive view as to how popular the disto remains they provide some insight how popular CentOS 5 remains. > Bear also in mind that those who complain the loudest are usually the > same people who promote the loudest. So they will have an indirect > effect on the perception and popularity of a project vs another. I'll take this bet, as well. While I admit that there is an emotional aspect that comes into play when someone has indeed spent time/emotional energy on a project I will bet you real dollars that those doing the most complaining aren't in that group. > The downward trends for CentOS on one of the charts that the dev > posted as evidence of CentOS's popularity is a possible indication of > the above two possible consequences of some of the rather > unprofessional responses by the some of the devs. Possible? Sure as anything's possible. The moon could break out of orbit tonight as well. However I'm going to go with "There are other factors at play that are contributing to the illustrated 'decline' of CentOS-based web servers that have nothing to do with the supposed problems that people perceive to be wrong with the CentOS distribution.". > They might do so considering the kind of pseudo support environment > that is available. Coming across some of the comments by the devs, > without having the luxury of reading what's gone in the past 6 months, > would give them a rather negative impression. This is why companies, > even when they know they are in the right, seldom just tell the user > to STFU or GTFO, at least not in such direct terms. Please keep in mind that CentOS, be it the project or the distribution, is not a company. It's not recruiting "customers". There is no break-even point or sales quota requirements. People use it if they want. Also, another point is that the CentOS devs don't really provide the support; support, almost exclusively, is a community effort. Note that by "community" I include the forum moderators that have a closer relationship with the CentOS devs than the average community member. And no matter what anyone may think of the project or the developers, community support is as good or better than that provided by the majority of commercial enterprises I've dealt with in the past 30 years as a *nix admin/engineer. > I think your offer of writing a cheque may had given him and others > extra incentive ;) We'll see :) John -- The machine has got to be accepted, but it is probably better to accept it rather as one accepts a drug -- that is, grudgingly and suspiciously. Like a drug, the machine is useful, dangerous, and habit-forming. The oftener one surrenders to it the tighter its grip becomes. -- George Orwell (1903-1950), novelist
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