Re: Re: Gathering module usage statistics

I don't want to know who is using it. I want to know the following:

How many installs this month?
What Perl versions were used to install it this month?
What OS'es was it installed this month?

I don't care if it's in New York or Newfoundland. I don't care if it's one guy on 10 computers or 10 guys on one computer. I don't care if they make a million a month or lose a million a month.

Why do I care? Because I want to allocate the 4-8 hours I have a month to the modules that have the most usage. That's the only reason. It has nothing to do with ego.

Also, as the user, I want to know how many installs there are for a given module on my OS with my Perl version. Let's say I want to use module X, but no-one has ever installed it on my OS. Now, I know I might have issues. But, if 10k people have installed it on my OS, I feel pretty safe knowing most of the kinks have been worked out. Same goes for Perl version. If the only people who've ever installed this module had Perl 5.8.x installed, but I have 5.005_3 installed, I might expect issues.

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Then there are Damian modules.... *sigh* ... that's not about being less-lazy -- that's about being on some really good drugs -- you know, there is no spoon. - flyingmoose

I shouldn't have to say this, but any code, unless otherwise stated, is untested

Comment on Re: Re: Gathering module usage statistics

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Re: Re: Gathering module usage statistics by hossman (Prior) on May 04, 2004 at 20:17 UTC
Why do I care? Because I want to allocate the 4-8 hours I have a month to the modules that have the most usage. That's the only reason. It has nothing to do with ego. There's a difference between usage and install base. ACME::POE::Knee might be installed on a bunch of boxes because people thought it sounded neat and wanted to try it out once, but that doesn't mean it's getting used very often. Other distributions may be installed on fewer boxes, but get used heavily. Don't get me wrong ... "number of installations" is an interesting metric, but it's not the same as "usage"	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Gathering module usage statistics by eserte (Deacon) on May 05, 2004 at 10:08 UTC
I agree. In an evaluation process, I often download and test multiple modules, maybe I even install them, but I only use a subset of the tried modules.	[reply]