Since changing the software that I use to make this site, I broke the way Awstats shows its reports and haven't got around to reading up how to reconfigure it. So I took the opportunity to try out a stats tool provided by a major search engine.
Why you can't trust the statistics
There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics - Rt. Hon. Lord Benjamin Disraeli
Now I have to admit I'm not the most enthusiastic stat checker. For the following reasons.
Firstly, one normally looks at statistics in order to inform one's behaviour, so you can see how the web site is fulfilling your goals and figure out how to further optimise your site for said goals, i.e. converting a web visit into some other behaviour, such as to sell something or send the reader somewhere else.
Well, this site exists just for the love of it, so I can engage with you, the readers and commentators, so we can encourage each other to take control of our own technology. The blog has never had any adverts or 'revenue streams' and probably never will. Therefore statistics are slightly academic as I have nothing to target, nothing to optimise for, nothing to flog you.
Secondly, I don't believe in basing truth statements on statistics alone. As an etymological principle, I think qualitative approaches have superiority over quantitative approaches as interpretations of figures can be extremely subjective (as we shall see below). Statistics are, at best, circumstantial evidence to test a theory that can also be justified by other means.
Awstats and the tool provided by the prominent search engine have very different methodologies but report suspiciously similar results. Awstats works on parsing my Apache logs, while the search engine uses client side Javascript (if you are curious then click on the view page source button and scroll to the very bottom). The fact that the results are so similar makes me question whether the methodologies used to collect them are too banal and mundane to tell us anything useful.
Thirdly, if there were really several thousand regular readers, why is that not being reflected in the comments? Surely you do not all passively agree with me most of the time? I'm always surprised how few of you flame me for my wackier ideas.
Fourthly, and most importantly, is the big brother aspect. We all have a right to privacy and the rare times that I bother to look at the statistics, I have an uncomfortable feeling, a bit like looking through other people's possessions.
Let's look at them anyway
Despite my apathy and cynicism for statistics, it does actually help to know
who you are. I often have several choices of what to write about and have to
pick just one, so knowing something about my readers might make me be more
informed when choosing topics (or I might just write the same thing anyway
.
The client-side Javascript statistics are very limited as they are not tracking the syndication feeds (RSS and ATOM), which is an easy way to keep up to date of blogs, and according to my last set of Awstats reports, it is the way that at most of you keep up with my ramblings. If you still haven't joined the RSS train, then read my explanation here.
Arrivals
So if we discount those of you who read this blog via RSS feeds, and we discount those of you that follow Planet Larry or Planet Birmingham, and we ignore people with Javascript turned off and we ignore bots, then this is how the remainder of readers arrived here during the last week:
So my initial theory is that on the one hand, 'referred' readers (those that arrive via links from other sites) and 'direct traffic' (people with bookmarks or manually typing in the URL) are real people that have some kind of interest in the topic.
While on the other hand, my initial theory is that people who arrive via the search engines are basically lost. This is borne out by how long people stick around for; on average direct and referred readers will hang around for a few minutes, while on average the search engine readers leave after only 56 seconds:
'Linux', 'Python', what the heck is all this? Help, Escape, Back Button, I'm melting, Adrian, Adrian.
Operating Systems and Browsers
As you might have noticed, I use Linux and write about that and other software quite a bit. It would be useful to look at what software my readers are using as well. There was over 40 browser/operating system combinations, so I had to cut down the legends to a reasonable size.
So again ignoring the majority of you who use RSS readers, let's have a look at what operating systems the remainder of the readers are using:
Despite skewing the figures by ignoring RSS, I can't believe how many Windows users there are. This might back up the theory that a third of the people are completely lost and came here by accident. However, confidence in the 'lost theory' was undermined by the browser figures, I expected this lost third to be using Internet Explorer:
So only a tenth of visitors are using IE, so either the Weasel is a lot more popular among the general population than commonly thought, or my lost theory is bogus and over-simplistic.
IceWeasel takes the web and keeps it
40% are using the Weasel on Linux, 31% Weasel on Windows, and just under 20% of readers are cool dudes using some trendy web browser, the Mozilla derivatives went on and on so I cut them out.
I understand why the Weasel does better than IE on Windows, since the latter is truly terrible and basically unusable. However, it is interesting that the weasel is doing an order of magnitude better than the native browsers on Linux and the Mac. Konqueror and it's descendant Safari are really great browsers so why are people not using these faster and lighter browsers?
The two factors that come to mind are firstly that the weasel puts a lot of emphasis on brand image, and secondly the open source extension community around weasel has made it unstoppable, it is really a killer feature.
Windows and Weasel at work?
Since the lost theory wasn't panning out, I then tried reading the statistics the other way around, i.e. that visitors are not lost and really did want to come here. So in this theory, readers are not split by 'technical and meant to come here' versus 'lost and came by accident'. Instead can we understand these figures by postulating that some readers are at work, and some are at home?
So lets imagine that some readers are Linux users at home, but they have to use Windows at work where they are opening Weasel on Windows, and they know where they want to go, but instead of manually typing in the address bar, they are putting a few keywords into their search engine, having a quick peak to see what is new and then getting back to the day job. However, when at home the readers can lean back and read for as long as they like.
This of course is completely tenuous and unprovable. The only way to for me to know who you are is for you to tell me.
So who are you really?
Helpful information would include some or all of the following:
How did you get this post? Planet, RSS feed, search engine? If you were referred from somewhere, where was it?
Which out of the headline subjects do you like reading about: Linux, Command Line, Pythom, Ethics, This Week.
What operating systems/distro do you prefer to use/hear about?
What country are you from?
<p>I've been a regular reader via RSS (Google Reader) for a couple months, but I
was originally directed here by a programming Reddit article. I use Ubuntu
Linux both at home, in classes on my laptop, and at the office (PHP web app
developer). I don't remember what the original article was that brought me
here, but I think it had something to do with Python, which is another
language I like to use.</p>
<p>And it's not the Ice Weasal on Windows, Mac, Ubuntu, or any other non-
Debian/GNU distro, btw. <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/wink.png"></p>
<p>I personally go to your website and check it via RSS. I found your website
one day searching (on Google) for a command line help and have loved it ever
since. I'm a big Linux fan (used to be Gentoo, now Ubuntu) and use it for my
work PC. My home PC is still Windows for gaming. I'm planning on encrypting
my /home partition now. <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/wink.png"></p>
<p>I mostly read via RSS using akregator. I followed a link from the Bash cures
cancer blog a long time ago, stuck the RSS link in akregator, and have been a
regular reader since. :-D</p>
<p>I've been using Linux exclusively for almost 4 years now, starting with RH 9,
then slack for a couple years, and I've been using gentoo on my laptop for
about 6 months now.</p>
<p>As a side note those pie charts don't display at all under konqueror.</p>
<p>I usually read this blog via the RSS feed (Google Reader). Incidentally, if
you use FeedBurner you can get statistics on how many people are reading via
the RSS feed.</p>
<p>I like reading about most of your headline subjects, although I tend to
prefer posts which are more focussed (i.e. I don't always read all of the
'this week' posts)</p>
<p>I use Ubuntu Linux at home, Windows at work (because I basically have to),
although we do have a few Red Hat and CentOS servers which I need to use
frequently.</p>
<p>Oh, and I'm from the UK!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for coming over and letting me know about yourselves, it is
really helpful. If everyone does read via RSS then the web stats are somewhat
irrelevant.</p>
<p>@Phill, "prefer posts which are more focused" - you have been here before?
Slim chance of that <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/wink.png"></p>
<p>@John Reese, I just read your article about cubicles it made me snigger, very
true. The Weasel is called by its version name on Gentoo (e.g. Gran
Paradiso).</p>
<p>The Weazzila Corporation trying to control downstream Linux distributions
through their proprietary art, name and binaries is a really dumb thing to
do, it seems that Weazzila has expanded so fast on the back of the Google
cash that a lot of people in that company don't really understand Open
Source, and don't care about furthering Open Source beyond using Weasel on
Windows.</p>
<p>@ Dave Caplan, encrypting /home is important, so do let us know how you get
on with it.</p>
<p>@Daniel, akregator is very popular I think, there were a lot of akregator
users in the last awstats report. I started with Slackware, but then also
went to RH 9! It was my first graphical distro and I have been using GNOME
ever since.</p>
<p>About the pictures, my Konqueror (running on GNOME) seems to render them just
fine, so I'm not sure what is going on there.</p>
<p>Hi Zeth,</p>
<p>I am a regular belgian reader via RSS (Google Reader) and probably came via a
search about something on Python or the command line. I usually read all the
subjects :-) Linux is my preferred operating system (although I'm often
forced to work under Windows at work).</p>
<p>Hi Zeth,</p>
<p>I found your site via a Technorati search when you linked to an article I
wrote on recording Skype with a script.</p>
<p>At home I use Gentoo exclusively, although my girlfriend uses Ubuntu. Sadly,
my workplace is currently Windows-only. I tend to read all your posts
although I most enjoy your more in-depth Linux tutorials, and your articles
on using Python. In recent memory, I particularly liked your series on
encrypting /home, which I intend to try out as soon as I get my laptop back
from warranty service.</p>
<p>I'm usually reading your blog in Akregator, via Planet Larry, as I'm a Gentoo
fanatic. It's one of the blogs I enjoy the most. My favourite browser is
SeaMonkey (formerly known as Mozilla). Konqueror may be adequate for viewing
a few standards-compliant sites, but I've found that it fails miserably in so
many cases that it's basically useless.</p>
<p>I've got a theory about the many Windows users. A lot of them may run Windows
on their desktops, but like I myself did for several years, they may have a
headless "server" (ie. the old desktop system) under the desk running Linux.</p>
<p>Cheers from Norway,
Leif.</p>
<p>I'm in the minority of the minority <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/smile.png">. Using opera (via rss feeds) on Gentoo
for something like 2 years. I don't really remember how I discovered your
blog, but I read it most of it. I wish I would blog as much as you do, but it
seems i'm good at procrastination haha.</p>
<p>So good that I dont really bother to comment even if I have something to
say... but I wanted to do it this time anyway.</p>
<p>Hey Zeth,</p>
<p>I got this post via Google Reader. I subscribed a while ago, after finding
your blog while searching around for command line tips I think.</p>
<p>Linux and ethics are the two top topics for me (for example the /home safety
posts and ODF vs. OOXML posts). Python and Gentoo posts the least
interesting for me, but only simply because I don't use either of them <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/smile.png"></p>
<p>I use the Elive distro (which is essentially Debian with Enlightenment
handily preconfigured.)</p>
<p>I'm from the UK.</p>
<p>I use Iceweasel, despite it being a bit of a resource hog -- the extensions
are a killer feature for me.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great blog!</p>
<p>Cheers
Neil</p>
<ol class="arabic">
<li><p class="first">Thank you for ignoring me <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/smile.png"> Ney Google!</p>
</li>
<li><dl class="first docutils">
<dt>I use Firefox [Currently unbranded because I'm too lazy to compile it</dt>
<dd><p class="first last">again] because I'm on Xfce. Besides, I like the extensions.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Coming via RSS <img src="/static/forum/img/smilies/smile.png"></p>
</li>
<li><dl class="first docutils">
<dt>Home is duel boot which rarely [Only recently got used more] boots</dt>
<dd><p class="first last">Windows. I wub my ArchLinux.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</li>
<li><p class="first">I forgot how I got here in the first place.</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">When are you going to post the guest week?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>How did you get this post? Planet, RSS feed, search engine? If you were
referred from somewhere, where was it?</p>
<p>I have your site bookmarked and check it frequently. I found it via a Google
search earlier this year, but don't remember what I was looking for. I run
Gentoo at home, but most often read your posts from work on Windows/Firefox,
otherwise occasionally from home on Linux/Firefox. I would agree with your
idea that people are accessing your site from work on Windows boxes.</p>
<p>Which out of the headline subjects do you like reading about: Linux, Command
Line, Pythom, Ethics, This Week.</p>
<p>All.</p>
<p>What operating systems/distro do you prefer to use/hear about?</p>
<p>Gentoo.</p>
<p>What country are you from?</p>
<p>Canada for the most part.</p>
<p>Keep up the great work.</p>
<p>Hi,
I've your blogg aggregated on Google start page, so I think I've counted
under referring sites.</p>
<p>Read it using Firefox or Mosilla at work, on Solaris, or Konqueror or
Swiftweasel at home, on Kubuntu.
I'm a big fan of Python, on CL tricks are big fun to read, too.
And I'm from Israel.</p>
<p>I like to read about Linux and command-line stuff. I'm not interested in
Python or Gentoo-specific stuff. Stuff</p>
<p>Hello Zeth! I read your blog through Google Reader, going to your site only
to post comments. Your blog is one of my favourites, cannot remember ever
marked anything as read.</p>
<p>I don't remember how I got to know your site, from searching a think.</p>
<p>I'm split between Ubuntu and Fedora, using Firefox on both.</p>
<p>My favourite posts are those that fall under the ethics category. Maybe a
post about the IceWeasel thing would be nice? As far as I can see, they don't
hinder the use of their brand any more than say Canonical does with Ubuntu.</p>
<p>And I'm from Sweden! Currently studying, though finished soon, hoping to work
on Linux related stuff. Mostly interested in computer graphics.</p>
<p>I read your blog through firefox under wine.I got here from planet larry. I
like reading about command line and linux. I prefer to hear about Gentoo. I
use Gentoo at home. I am from Turkiye. I am interested in c++ programming,
Emacs, E17 window manager and cartoons.</p>
<p>How did you get this post?</p>
<p>On RSS feed, read in Safari on a Mac running Mac OS X. I can't remember how
I first found your blog, probably something to do with PyCon 2007.</p>
<p>Which out of the headline subjects do you like reading about: Linux, Command
Line, Python, Ethics, This Week.</p>
<p>Everything except This Week. I find the the odd foray into
history/religion/art/humanities all the more illuminating.</p>
<p>What country are you from?</p>
<p>The UK.</p>
<p>i read it via rss in outlook 2007
i read all of it, i am in the UK and using windows XP (at work) and a mix of
XP, Fedora 8 and vista at home</p>
<p>I have the site bookmarked using Portable Firefox at work which as normal is
a Windoze environment.</p>
<p>At home the 'family' PC is Windoze where I have my own copy of Firefox
installed, though my laptop is exclusively Xubuntu now, partly because I
mashed the Win ME partition so I'm now going to encrypt it and set it as a
home partition when I manage to get so free time, which will probably be Jan.</p>
<p>I came here through a link on another site, possibly Bash Cures Cancer, about
9 months ago.</p>
<p>Albert representing from New England. I primarily browse with Camino, no RSS,
sometimes elinks. Regular reader of your blog. I keep wanting to answer your
human test with wombats though. Maybe you could make it something lamer like
windows, then I'd always want to answer warriors.</p>
<p>How did I get here?</p>
<p>This is my first visit to your site but I'll be back:-)</p>
<p>I found your "Steal This Wi-Fi" post referred to on the "Truth Happens" RSS
feed at <a href="http://redhatmagazine.com" rel="nofollow">redhatmagazine.com</a> which I have been subscribed to for a while.</p>
<p>I work from home, using an Intel iMac running Mac OS X Tiger, which is
essentially the only machine I ever sit at (but I do use a shell account on a
remote Debian box at <a href="http://mythic-beasts.com" rel="nofollow">mythic-beasts.com</a>).</p>
<p>I use Safari for all my browsing and NetNewsWire for all my feed reading.</p>
<p>I just subscribed to your feed and bookmarked your site on del.icio.us</p>