this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 138 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Can we talk about the definition of a "surge", please!

[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 year ago (5 children)

What percentage increase do you feel is required for surge to be a reasonable definition. A 35% increase feels surge-y me.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The council planted a new tree on my road, trees surged in population from 1 to 2 yesterday

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

100% surge is legit

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's why we're talking about relative percentages.

In your example we would need to know how many trees existed on your road/city before. If there were less than 3 or 4 trees in your city before this, saying there was a surge is likely fine.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I gave you that information, I said "from 1 to 2" and added context of "a tree" (singular)

My terribly made point is that although technically correct when talking about relative increase it's dumb as fuck to say trees "surged in population" after adding just one more on one street. It's a drop on the ocean.

I feel like the term surge respects the final total relative to what its maximum could be as well as the relative increase. But obviously language is regional and up for interpretation

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I'm super confused by your point.

In this case we're looking at Steam.

I have no clue how many people submit to the steam survey, but I'll assume it's representative.

A quick google suggests steam has about 120 million active users.

Linux went from about 1.4% to 1.9%.

Rough math says Linux went from 1.7 million to about 2.3 million.

Or an increase of 600 000.

That a lot, both in relative terms and in real terms.

Here's a counter example for you.

You own stock in banana company. Over one day the price increases 2x. All the news agency's are talking about how banana surged in price today. Will you then suggest that banana didn't surge in price because it only makes up 1% of the overall stock market?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Given the sheer amount of Steam users, it's still not a bad increase.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

It's not the percentage total but the speed of increase.

[–] ImFresh3x 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It’s not just a percentage thing. 1 person yesterday to 2 people today is a 100% increase. Not much of a surge, at least in terms of news worthiness. Going from 6% to 10% sounds more news worthy than going from 1% to 2% despite the latter being a much larger percentage increase.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Considering the many millions of steam accounts. A 1% increase is nothing to sniff at.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Of course, percentage just help show relativity. It's why people can look at a 0.5% increase and dismiss it as not significant.

Would it help if I translated the percentage for you? Linux surged 600000 to 2.3 million.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Small number random samples in big data sets have huge error margins. You need to smooth this over time to see the real trend.

[–] brax 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A delicious canned energy drink from the 90s.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Josta was better.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Click bait media