• woelkchen@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    You don’t honestly believe that, right?

    Context is computers dual booting Windows and Ubuntu, so obviously consumer hardware and not servers and also not multiple containers on one device. There are millions of Steam Decks sold already and Steam Deck is consumer hardware which means that there are millions of individual devices running SteamOS.

    servers running Ubuntu

    Sure there are hardcore users that run dozens of containers simultaneously and Ubuntu is quite a popular choice among those. Completely different topic from the one I’ve replied to, though.

    • metaldream
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      3 months ago

      Steam numbers are completely meaningless. There’s absolutely no way SteamOS outnumbers Ubuntu even if we limit this comparison to desktop installs. Ubuntu’s been around for a very long time and many of its users wouldn’t show up on Steam because they don’t game.

      • lengau@midwest.social
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        3 months ago

        If you look at just my household, Ubuntu and its derivatives outnumber SteamOS by a factor of 7:1, not even counting numerous VMs and containers, or 3:1 if you’re just counting desktops, laptops and tablets. But if you look at my steam usage, Ubuntu hasn’t shown up there in over a year.

        I probably spend 10x as much time on Ubuntu machines as I spend on my Steam Deck, but the Steam hardware survey would never surface that fact, nor is it intended to.

        • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          If you look at just my household

          No, I won’t because anecdotal evidence is no statistic.

          • lengau@midwest.social
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            3 months ago

            Sure, but it’s often a clearer way to explain why a statistic is misleading.

            In this case, my anecdote shows an example of why the steam hardware survey is not, and was never intended to be, an accurate depiction of what distros people are using overall. Instead, it’s a depiction of what distros people are using for Steam, which is the point of the statement above mine.

            Using anecdote instead of statistical data is a bad idea. But so is ignoring anecdotes simply because they’re anecdotes, as anecdotes are often one of the best ways to find limitations in statistical data.

            • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Sure, but it’s often a clearer way to explain why a statistic is misleading.

              Provide a better one or keep quiet.

              • lengau@midwest.social
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                3 months ago

                You’re being rightfully called out by multiple people for using bad statistics. That doesn’t require better statistics to do any more than doubting Russell’s teapot requires showing that it’s actually a coffee pot.

      • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Steam numbers are completely meaningless.

        No, they are an actual statistic, whereas you deniers just have gut feeling and literally nothing else.

        There’s absolutely no way SteamOS outnumbers Ubuntu even if we limit this comparison to desktop installs.

        [citation needed]