Re: Statistics on non-free usage
On Thu, Jan 08, 2004 at 01:00:12PM -0600, Steve Langasek wrote:
> > >From the data, we can see that:
>
> > * The 5 most popular packages in non-free are acroread (18% regular
> > use), unrar (14%), j2re1.4 (11%), and rar (10%).
>
> acroread is no longer distributable (or distributed), so should probably
> be excluded from any analysis.
>
> Also, are any of the java packages actually distributed by Debian? I
> thought there were legal issues that prevented even non-free
> distribution (though j2re/sdk packages are available elsewhere).
Excellent points. No, acroread is not in non-free. j2re1.4 also is
not, nor is j2dsk1.4 or, in fact, any Java newer than 1.1. I dare say
that Java 1.1 in non-free is about the same usefulness as Kaffe for
today's programs.
So, we have a situation where the #1 and #3 packages installed from
"non-free" on people's systems are not actually present in Debian's
non-free (any more). Also, no version of Java later than 1.1 is
present.
> > * In main, gs has 42%, xpdf-reader 26%, gv 20%. tar was at 87% and
> > unzip at 49%.
>
> Of course, tar and unzip are no substitute for unrar.
It, of course, depends on what you're doing, but yes, I realize that. I
just tried to show a smattering of similar programs so people can
compare.
I was actually surprised at the popularity of {un}rar. I rarely see RAR
files used anywhere.
> Interesting statistics. Thanks for doing this, John.
Glad to do it.
-- John
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