How many times each application is downloaded from extras-devel

The quick question:

Is there a way to find out how many times each application was downloaded
from extras-devel? It would be a valuable tool to help access if the
applications are being used (and/or are useful) and decide on how to invest
on each one.



The issue:

Right now the feedback on the talk.maemo.org is the only thermometer I have
and even being a very good one it hasn't been enough.



For one application to move out of testing it has to get votes and good
karma, right? For someone to vote they have had to install the application
from the extras-devel already and because of this don't exactly have any
major motivation/urgency to want to push the application to move to extras.
On the top of that it is not very obvious, at least wasn't for me, how to
vote - especially because once you get the page you don't see the vote
button until you login. I assume, as it is, we mostly depend on other
developers to test and vote for the applications on testing or is there any
other driving force?



I would like to see the applications I have developed available/useful to
more users but by the number of votes I got on them (4 total) I would have
to assume they are not very good or, hopefully, that people just don't take
the time or don't know how to vote.



Wouldn't make sense to have something to help remind users that they should
vote if they like the application? Maybe a "sticky" message on the
"announcement" thread for the application once it goes to testing or even an
automatic e-mail/message to the users that posted on that thread?



For me, after I have the application running on my phone that I like it
becomes mostly a done deal - I will be notified of updates by the
application manager and I will keep using w/o even knowing that now that
application is waiting for my vote to make the "big league". I may from time
to time go back to the announcement thread or even have subscribed to it but
doesn't mean that I will see the one post asking me to vote and/or that I
will figure out what voting means.



Felipe

On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 17:40, Felipe Crochik <felipe@crochik.com> wrote:
>
> Is there a way to find out how many times each application was downloaded
> from extras-devel? It would be a valuable tool to help access if the
> applications are being used (and/or are useful) and decide on how to
> invest on each one.

Not sure - there is once you get to Extras; click "Download
Statistics" on the http://maemo.org/downloads/ page.

> For one application to move out of testing it has to get votes and good
> karma, right?

For an application to move out of Extras-testing it has:

* To spend at least 10 days in Extras-testing
* Receive 10 thumbs up
* Have the maintainer click the "Promote package" button.

> For someone to vote they have had to install the application
> from the extras-devel already and because of this don’t exactly have
> any major motivation/urgency to want to push the application to
> move to extras.

For someone to vote they have to (or rather, should) install the
application from Extras-testing. They should then compare the
application against the QA rules and vote accordingly:

http://wiki.maemo.org/Extras-testing/QA_Checklist

The motivation for the tester is:

* Altruism - more good apps get to people who aren't willing
to test.
* Karma - rating apps and leaving comments earns karma which
has, in the past, translated to discounted devices and
sponsored travel & accommodation to the summit.
* Early access - they get to use apps which may not be ready for
the masses.

However, it's not all positives - they really take on two other facts:

* Stability - it's a testing repo. Things may break. Things
may break horribly.
* Voting - it's effectively a covenant that if you're using
Extras-testing you're saying you're willing to test & vote.

> On the top of that it is not very obvious, at least wasn’t for me, how to
> vote – especially because once you get the page you don’t see the vote
> button until you login.

Specific suggestions for improving the UI are always welcome. X-Fade's
admitted he's not a web designer. CSS, HTML or even mockups of
improved UIs are VERY welcome.

> I assume, as it is, we mostly depend on other developers to test
> and vote for the applications on testing or is there any other
> driving force?

There is a Testing Squad of volunteers, and a subset of those are
shortly to become Super-Testers who can, after a longer time period,
move the package over the threshold with a smaller number of "super"
votes.

http://wiki.maemo.org/Testing_Squad

Hope that helps,

Andrew

--
Andrew Flegg -- mailto:andrew@bleb.org | http://www.bleb.org/
Maemo Community Council chair

Andrew Flegg wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 17:40, Felipe Crochik <felipe@crochik.com> wrote:
>> Is there a way to find out how many times each application was downloaded
>> from extras-devel? It would be a valuable tool to help access if the
>> applications are being used (and/or are useful) and decide on how to
>> invest on each one.
>
> Not sure - there is once you get to Extras; click "Download
> Statistics" on the http://maemo.org/downloads/ page.
>

No, there isn't, that's misleading.

#!/bin/bash
wget --quiet
"http://maemo.org/download-stats/fetch.php?unixname=$1&os=Maemo5" -O -|\
awk -F'[' '/^ *var d/{for(x=1;x<NF;x++){split($x,a,",");
total+=a[2]}}END{print total}'

(also at http://www.mauve.plus.com/count-downloads)

This says - for ecoach - 105529.
http://maemo.org/download-stats/index.php?unixname=ecoach&os=Maemo5&repo=extras
is the page which it pulls this info from.

http://maemo.org/packages/view/ecoach/ says 108000

But.

http://maemo.org/packages/view/ecoach/ - gives several dates, if you
look at the package events, and glance at the graph, you can see that
both the 'download-stats', and the 'maemo.org/packages/view' page must
be counting downloads from extras-devel and testing too.

For some preliminary analysis that I did for fmms - as many users have
testing enabled as extras.

The download number is also misleading - as it's really 'total downloads
and updates'.

ecoaches headline number is 100K.
In reality, it seems likely that the real number of users is more like 10k.

(integrate the size of the spike after each package event, and you can
see how many updated. If you look at the shape of this when there are no
external events, then you can decipher stuff.

For example - a upload of a fresh version to testing - if over the next
5 days, there are 5K downloads, and then 12 days later when it's pushed
to extras - there are 3K - then it's probably reasonable to assume there
are around 5000 users with extras-devel enabled, and 3000, with extras only.