Re: Last weeks QuickPoll

Michael H. Warfield (mhw@wittsend.com)
Wed, 17 Jul 1996 09:26:58 -0400 (EDT)

David W. Schuler enscribed thusly:
>
> On Mon, 15 Jul 1996 08:30:36 EDT kday wrote:
> >
> >Last week the following question was posed on your Quick Poll:
> > Will Linux ever be given fair consideration alongside commercial
> > OSes on the desktop.
> >
> >Your summary said that the majority said yes, but the stats shown
> >were 47% yes, 53% no.
> >
> >Am I misreading this?
>
> Unfortunately, you probably are not misreading this. I think that the
> question, in the manner in which it was asked, was fairly answered. The
> question should have been asked as a two-part question:

No... They (InforWorld) screwed up. The "47% yes, 53% no" icon was
from last week's question. Obviously, if 47% said yes and 53% said no -
that would contradict saying the majority saying yes. They just screwed up
the page and left the old icon there. I remember seeing those exact results
for last week's question (something about Microsoft displacing Netscape
Navigator). I'm a believer in coincidence as much as the next guy but
figure Murphy's law and human stupidity had more to do with this...

Mike

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