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Distribution: Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, Fedora, Ubuntu
Posts: 13,602
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2005 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards
Over the next couple of hours I'll be posting the threads for the 2005 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards. Unlike in the past, voting will not open right away. I'm going to give a day or two for feedback, and then open the polls. If anyone has any questions, let me know. Thanks.
There's an error on the "Video Multimedia Application of the Year" poll - Totem is listed twice.
Also, on the "Web Development Editor of the Year" poll, you wrote, "What is your what editor of choice?". Unless of course, it was meant to be like that .
All these polls seem to have only a small number of options, and none of the ones I've looked at have an "other" option.
Is this meant to be only a question of "which is your favorite out of these?", which is not the question as it is asked in the thread title, or is it really meant to be "Which is your favorite?", in which case everyone whose favorite is not one of the ones listed is being unfairly excluded from the poll.
Distribution: Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, Fedora, Ubuntu
Posts: 13,602
Original Poster
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It's really not possible to include *every* option in any poll. The idea is to get the most popular X and vote from there. It's possible that we missed some that really have a legitimate shot at either winning or at least garnering a significant number of votes, which is why we suggest you post in the thread if you think you have one of those cases.
Just wanted to say thanks for this jeremy
Not only does it give us a shot at seeing who the big players are on the market, I always love the Member's Choice Awards because it gives me a chance to take a look at what is out there that I maybe haven't tried and have a run at it. Found Enlightenment this way (2004 Members Choice Awards ).
So thanks again for the Members Choice Awards, and for LQ
It's really not possible to include *every* option in any poll. The idea is to get the most popular X and vote from there. It's possible that we missed some that really have a legitimate shot at either winning or at least garnering a significant number of votes, which is why we suggest you post in the thread if you think you have one of those cases.
--jeremy
The standard practice when you can't possbly list every choice as a poll option is to have one option called "Other", which people who's favorite isn't listed can vote for.
To be a fair poll, it has to represent everyone who might want to vote, not exclusively people whose favorite happens to be in a predefined list that was chosen (as far as I can tell) without any input from the general membership.
Distribution: Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, Fedora, Ubuntu
Posts: 13,602
Original Poster
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I have never seen a poll of this nature have an other. In fact, many only have 4 or so options with no chance of additions. Other in this context is aggregating people who don't necessarily agree with each other.
HOF - it is member's choice awards, not which is your favourite distro. A poll like the later will say something like:
Do you like...
cats
dogs
other (such as both or another animal)
If there is something that would legitimately have a chance of winning, then you can suggest it. ex:
Do you like...
Dogs
mice
and in the thread comes a response "what about cats?" because cats have a legitimate chance of winning the poll. However, "what about salamanders?" is different.
The member's choice awards is not picking which is your favourite, it is picking the best. If you can't justify voting for something, then don't.
Surely agregating people into a wider group is better than denying them a voice at all!
But they have a voice. They can post in the thread attached to the poll and say "I would like to vote for <option> but it's not there, could it be added?" Very very easy to do.
But they have a voice. They can post in the thread attached to the poll and say "I would like to vote for <option> but it's not there, could it be added?" Very very easy to do.
Would I be correct in assuming that when the results are announced they will be based purely on the votes in the poll? If so then the results will not represent people who have been excluded from voting.
As for asking for options to be added, does this actually happen? I noticed that in the browser thread there were requests to add both SeaMonkey and Safari options, but these requests were not acted on! It doesn't help people who want to vote for something else if all they can do is say they want it to be added, only for that request to fall on deaf ears.
Distribution: Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, Fedora, Ubuntu
Posts: 13,602
Original Poster
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Of course they are added sometimes (but not every time). I've added at least 6-8 options already this year. I also look at the requests when deciding for next year. The first official/stable SeaMonkey release was in 2006, so having it as an option for 2005 would be odd and Safari doesn't even run on Linux.
If so then the results will not represent people who have been excluded from voting.
The only people excluded from voting are those who have not registered or logged on to LQ. With a mere 220,492 (and counting) members, yes you're right, we are a bit restrictive.
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As for asking for options to be added, does this actually happen?
Yes it does. In previous years Jeremy has added options where they were suggested and were suitable.
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I noticed that in the browser thread there were requests to add both SeaMonkey and Safari options, but these requests were not acted on!
Following on from Jeremy's answer, I suppose you'd also like to see Internet Explorer 7 added?
I think there is a deeper issue here, hand of fate, which is your favourite software that was left off the poll?
If you were voting in a political election, you would only be allowed to vote if you were a citizen of the country. The only people you can vote for are politicians running for office- you can't tick "other" on a ballot!
The best as picked by the LQ staff (jeremy, the mods) are on the ballot. If there is something that qualifies as "the best" suggest it, vote if you want and move on.
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