I have been a little unhappy with how we have been doing our monthly survey for some time, so I am making some steps towards making a better one.
It will no longer use an outside source (google forms), instead it will be using our own database so you can be 100% sure there's no google tracking involved. This was a complaint I saw a few times, so I am happy to remove it.
People wanted some of it to be automated, so that is going to happen, but the key is how we will do that.
I am first going to expand the profile system here on GOL with some key information about your computer. So you will be able to list your CPU/GPU vendor on your profile for example.
What I am looking to do is when the survey is open, it will prompt you to make sure your profile is up to date and then allow you to go to the new survey page.
It will still remain anonymous since the actual results won't send your GOL user_id (if you're logged in), and we don't take any other personal info from you anyway.
It will have a static page to link to on other sites, so people can still do it without even being a member on GOL.
What are your thoughts on such a system? It probably wouldn't be ready for another month at the earliest (probably longer), as I have lots of other things to fix up on GOL and other features that may be more useful (more info on those in another post soon). Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
It will no longer use an outside source (google forms), instead it will be using our own database so you can be 100% sure there's no google tracking involved. This was a complaint I saw a few times, so I am happy to remove it.
People wanted some of it to be automated, so that is going to happen, but the key is how we will do that.
I am first going to expand the profile system here on GOL with some key information about your computer. So you will be able to list your CPU/GPU vendor on your profile for example.
What I am looking to do is when the survey is open, it will prompt you to make sure your profile is up to date and then allow you to go to the new survey page.
It will still remain anonymous since the actual results won't send your GOL user_id (if you're logged in), and we don't take any other personal info from you anyway.
It will have a static page to link to on other sites, so people can still do it without even being a member on GOL.
What are your thoughts on such a system? It probably wouldn't be ready for another month at the earliest (probably longer), as I have lots of other things to fix up on GOL and other features that may be more useful (more info on those in another post soon). Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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How about writing a simple bash script that gets most of the related system information automatically and allows the user to copypaste it to the site (just a text area that's parsed automatically would be fine)? Just like Steam does. It could also cover some audio configuration that was mentioned here some time ago. And of course, the user should be able to correct any field that was filled incorrectly by that script.
As it should be cross-distro compatible, starting a github project might be a good idea so everyone could participate.
As it should be cross-distro compatible, starting a github project might be a good idea so everyone could participate.
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GustyGhost May 8, 2016
Even though I commend your switch away from Google forms, this will have a detrimental effect on total responses. In the past, a link to the survey could be shared on sites like Voat and Reddit. Will the new one have functionality for non-registered users?
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You could store previous answers in a cookie and retrieve them (where it makes sense, like, not the games bought last month) from there.
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Great to see that nearly automated now. It's was a bit redundant, spacially on the GPU/CPU/OS side...
For the "(no automatic submissions)" part, are you sure ? It's would be nice to have a "live" evolution... ?
For the "(no automatic submissions)" part, are you sure ? It's would be nice to have a "live" evolution... ?
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Even though I commend your switch away from Google forms, this will have a detrimental effect on total responses. In the past, a link to the survey could be shared on sites like Voat and Reddit. Will the new one have functionality for non-registered users?Already planning for that. The survey will have a static link, and simply grab the data for people who are logged in.
You could store previous answers in a cookie and retrieve them (where it makes sense, like, not the games bought last month) from there.Also a good idea I can quite easily do for stuff that wont change often.
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Also a good idea I can quite easily do for stuff that wont change often.
That wouldn't require a login, so easier for reddit and other folks.
Last edited by Eike on 8 May 2016 at 6:43 pm UTC
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How about writing a simple bash script that gets most of the related system information automatically and allows the user to copypaste it to the site (just a text area that's parsed automatically would be fine)?Why reinvent the wheel? Just copy-paste the contents of Steam's System Information dialog. I don't know if this feature would be worth it though. Lots of parser code just to save the user a handful of clicks.
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Would be cool to have an indication as to whether a GOL user has filled in the survey for that month. What I mean by this is, if I'm logged into GOL and have filled in the survey for May 2016, there should be an indication of that for me alone so that I know I've previously filled in the survey. I'm terrible at remembering what the last survey that I filled in was.
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Segata Sanshiro May 8, 2016
Sweet. Yeah, this is a great idea, leaves the door open for automated reminder messages and stuff as well if people want that.
Part of the reason I stopped doing the survey was that it got to a point where this kind of stuff needed to happen and I can't code or anything, so I'm glad it's getting done.
Part of the reason I stopped doing the survey was that it got to a point where this kind of stuff needed to happen and I can't code or anything, so I'm glad it's getting done.
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This has opened up the ability for me to do other stuff, like this (obviously not finished, missing username and link to full profile):
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 8 May 2016 at 7:46 pm UTC
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 8 May 2016 at 7:46 pm UTC
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Why reinvent the wheel? Just copy-paste the contents of Steam's System Information dialog. I don't know if this feature would be worth it though. Lots of parser code just to save the user a handful of clicks.Sure, that would be the easy way. However, Steam doesn't show the exact CPU model for me for some reason while it's available at /proc/cpuinfo and the frequency is also off by 400 MHz. Though I don't think there's a need to replicate the Steam stats, it's better to complement them. And for that we need more info than Steam provides. As an example, it's possible to get the audio info from PulseAudio without asking the user, the number of channels, the exact sound card name (Steam only tells the short name), whether the microphone is connected and so on. It's also possible to detect the DE (for me Steam shows the WM name only though I don't have a DE so maybe it just knows that), the availability of gamepad/racing wheel, the mouse model and number of buttons it has etc. Yes, it's a considerable effort, I'm not saying it's a one evening task, but that stat would be much more interesting and complete than the basic Steam summary.
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For gathering user's hardware information, maybe the tool "inxi" is usefull.
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Yes, but again, it's not very suitable for gaming rigs. No advanced audio info, nothing about gamepads/joysticks/race wheels. Though it shows the DE/WM info and properly describes the CPU.
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hardpenguin May 9, 2016
That is a step in the right direction, I really like that!
However, I think the survey will have to be also available for people who do not login to GOL, otherwise less people will take it.
I only hope that my answers will not be available publicly on my profile :)
However, I think the survey will have to be also available for people who do not login to GOL, otherwise less people will take it.
I only hope that my answers will not be available publicly on my profile :)
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That is a step in the right direction, I really like that!
However, I think the survey will have to be also available for people who do not login to GOL, otherwise less people will take it.
I only hope that my answers will not be available publicly on my profile :)
It was stated that it will be available to people who don't have a GOL account and also that the answers will still be anonymous ^_^
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I think this is fraught with problems. You will have so many variations of CPU and GPU Architectures entered by Users as deem the data meaningless. Take my laptop processor:- Intel Core i7 2840QM. I could enter that as i7 2840QM, Core i7 2840QM, 2840QM etc etc. Also get's very complicated with multi-processor machines. My desktop/gaming rig is a Dell T5500 with Dual Xeon x5670 processors
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I think this is fraught with problems. You will have so many variations of CPU and GPU Architectures entered by Users as deem the data meaningless. Take my laptop processor:- Intel Core i7 2840QM. I could enter that as i7 2840QM, Core i7 2840QM, 2840QM etc etc. Also get's very complicated with multi-processor machines. My desktop/gaming rig is a Dell T5500 with Dual Xeon x5670 processorsWe have never asked about specific models.
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Thanks for moving away from Google, I have all Google JS blacklisted as default.
If this was to be the case then certain profile selections could always be made from a survey friendly pre-configured drop down list.
Edit: Having now visited my profile for investigation I see this is indeed already the case! :)
Last edited by fabertawe on 9 May 2016 at 10:52 am UTC
I think this is fraught with problems. You will have so many variations of CPU and GPU Architectures entered by Users as deem the data meaningless....
If this was to be the case then certain profile selections could always be made from a survey friendly pre-configured drop down list.
Edit: Having now visited my profile for investigation I see this is indeed already the case! :)
Last edited by fabertawe on 9 May 2016 at 10:52 am UTC
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Kimyrielle May 9, 2016
If I may suggest - I would also think about dropping some of the questions from the monthly survey that won't ever see much change from one month to the next. Like what distro or GPU people are using. I...don't think people change these things all that often (and we see indeed very little change in the data). So I would rather ask these things like once in six months to identify longterm trends in these areas, and instead go for things more volatile than that for the monthly surveys. Say, which game(s) out of a list of 10 upcoming releases people are looking forward to most, or what games and/or genres are they playing right now, or what they see as the most pressing issues in gaming for the next 3 months.
Just an idea. :)
Just an idea. :)
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