[Rd] CRAN Server download statistics (Was: R Usage Statistics)

[spencerg]

Beyond what Gabor said, I might download a package that uses "zoo", then 
use "zoo" directly in other contexts without ever downloading it 
directly.  Total downloads would capture that;  top level downloads 
would not.  The flip side is that a package that requires "zoo" may only 
use it for features that I don't use.  This would support the use of top 
level downloads over total downloads.  Spencer

Gabor Grothendieck wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 3:51 PM, Fellows, Ian <ifellows at ucsd.edu> wrote:
>   
>> 6. Regarding package dependancies, I was thinking about also counting the number of top level downloads, as approximated
>> by the number of downloads where a reverse dependancy was not downloaded in the next 5 min by the same IP.
>>     
>
> Top level downloads discriminates against infrastructure packages,
> i.e. packages that are not necessarily directly used by users or even
> downloaded directly by users.  It can make it seem as if a package
> that is widely used, but not directly by users, is barely used at all
> so total downloads seems a better metric of popularity than top level
> downloads.
>
> I can't find it just now but remember reading a post on another list,
> or maybe it was his blog, by the author of certain software (not
> related to R) that was fundamental to Ruby on Rails but as
> infrastructure would not be directly observed by the user yet Ruby on
> Rails got all the credit and his key contribution got almost none
> despite the fact that Ruby on Rails likely would have never achieved
> its current high level of popularity without his contribution.
>
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>   


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