Netcraft Needs to Clean House or Become Irrelevant

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2009-07-27 07:52:47 UTC
Modified: 2009-07-28 06:34:37 UTC

Disclaimer: contrary to the cited post (eracc.com), the issue is to be associated with Netcraft's flawed methods, not "Microsoft shills and/or Microsoft fanboys".

Summary: Netcraft continues to paint deceiving pictures of the Web

THE issues around Netcraft and Microsoft are ones that we previously touched on in:

It turns out that Netcraft has not sorted itself out yet. Here are the details.

Could it be that Microsoft, Microsoft shills and/or Microsoft fanboys are “gaming” the uptime table at Netcraft? Unless I am misunderstanding something, frankly, I think they are. I was going to show a friend of mine the uptime table at Netcraft to display the ability of Unix and Unix-like operating systems to be stable and reliable.

[...]

Just get enough dedicated people to request sites over and over that run your favored system and you too can have your own favorable Netcraft uptime chart. I think Netcraft needs to rethink how they generate the longest uptimes chart. It is obviously being abused by people who favor Microsoft to falsely show Microsoft operating systems dominate the uptime statistics.

Like all benchmarks, in due time, contenders adapt to them and finesse performance for those particular benchmarks (e.g. acid tests) because they are predictable and well understood. In response, benchmarks need to re-adapt and made more robust. With Microsoft's benchmark frauds, it would be silly to expect fair play. ⬆

“Linux infestations are being uncovered in many of our large accounts as part of the escalation engagements.”

--Microsoft Confidential

Comments

souskel

2009-07-27 18:06:02

If you had bothered to do fact checking you would have found that the reason why Linux isn't on the netcraft uptime table is because netcraft can't track uptime for computers with the 2.6 kernel. They explain it in their FAQ:

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/accuracy.html#hz1000

Not everything is a Microsoft conspiracy.

Roy Schestowitz

2009-07-27 19:21:06

"Microsoft conspiracy" was not implied. Flawed methods that need fixing were highlighted because loopholes in them get exploited. It's not just the uptime statistics by the way (think of parked domains and subsites for examples).

zatoichi

2009-07-27 19:56:21

ORLY?

You've got headlines referenced like "Is Netcraft Promoting Microsoft Just Like Net Applications?" and "Lies, Damn Lies, and… Netcraft/Microsoft", not to mention a quote claiming that "[the Netcraft uptime chart] is obviously being abused by people who favor Microsoft to falsely show Microsoft operating systems dominate the uptime statistics", and you see no implication of a "Microsoft conspiracy"....?

How about a "conspiracy to promote Microsoft"...?
souskel

2009-07-28 04:43:31

Roy, the primary source that you quote asks if Microsoft or Microsoft "shills" are "gaming" the uptime table at Netcraft. The answer to that question is obviously no.

You should update the post to say the truth: the netcraft statistics are inaccurate because the 2.6 kernel makes it impossible to track uptime.

Roy Schestowitz

2009-07-28 06:31:43

That would require changing the original URL, which is at:

http://blog.eracc.com/2009/07/24/linux-and-unix-uptime-vs-microsoft-on-netcraft/

The fact remains that the statistics are flawed, not Linux 2.6.

I'll add a disclaimer to the top of the post.

sabayon.user

2009-07-27 18:23:00

Hi Roy. May I ask why you deleted my account yesterday? Did you set this registration thing up just so you can just delete accounts whenever you feel like it but continue to claim you are not censoring anyone? Can you please explain how I violated your comment policy?

If you don't want people with dissenting opinions commenting here, why don't you just turn off comments altogether and use your chat room for the feedback you claim you want but never pay any attention to?

zatoichi

2009-07-27 18:47:56

Since this story's been shown to be inaccurate, will you be posting a correction, Roy...?

Roy's enforcement of the news Rules of Order has been a bit freeform. He claimed several times that my Ids were removed for "cursing", but I'm still waiting to see a single documented instance of what he's referring to.
Robotron 2084

2009-07-28 10:28:14

He appears to have deleted my account as well. Hard to say if it was deliberate or not, we'll just have to see how it unfolds.

zatoichi

2009-07-28 12:51:49

I believe this place is Wordpress-based, and deleting a user is a multistep process. One would have to have several accidents in a row in order for it to happen in a way which wasn't "deliberate". Roy, why did you delete Robotron's account?

And do you support the FSF, Roy?
clayclamp

2009-07-28 20:15:51

This is SabayonUser. He also deleted my account. Twice in a row now. Yesterday when I found myself logged out, I tried to re-register and I got the "please watch your email" thing but I never received an email, so I assume the registration was manually blocked (I was using my original email address).

What a great way to say "we don't censor anything". Very nice.

I'm posting this so it will remain as a record of his actions. I'm glad others are doing that.

Don't worry kid, I'm not going to post again. This is your playground, and your rules. I'm fine with that. Just think about all that time you spent pasting red warnings on my posts, then probably watched my comments being voted up with the rating system you put in place. I hope that was very much in your mind when you deleted my account twice without even explaining why. Oh that's right, I work for Microsoft and I "hate" freedom. Maybe that was the reason.

I'm sure you'll make snide remarks about me on your IRC channel with your insane nymshifter troll friends that are above all criticism no matter who they insult or how low they go. Just more evidence that you're a vindictive child with way too much time on your hands.

One of these days you're going to smear the wrong person or go just a bit too far with your "evangelism". That's when your little toxic crusade will come to an end. Or maybe you'll just be forced to find an actual paying job. That will be fun to watch. In the meantime, I'm going to see how many people I can convince to install Mono apps, just for kicks. And please tell your buddy Mark Fink to stay away from gentoo-user. I'm not going to be as nice to him as the Ubuntu folks.

Netcraft Needs to Clean House or Become Irrelevant

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