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Number of Downloads

Question: How many downloads occurred since the software artifact was released?

Synonyms: Clones

Overview

Number of Downloads captures the traffic to a project's repository by measuring the frequency of downloaded or cloned software artifacts. This may include downloads through package managers like homebrew, pip, or apt. Analyzing download activity helps maintainers understand the demographics of the user base, download patterns, and the density of downloads, which may reveal a project's reach and popularity.

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Data Collection Strategies

  • Platform Data: Use download counts from hosting platforms (e.g., GitHub, SourceForge) if available.
  • System Logs: Retrieve logs where software downloads or updates are recorded.
  • Web Scraping: Gather data from web analytics, such as traffic to download pages.
  • Package Managers: If distributed via package managers, consult their APIs for download counts.

Filters

  • Timeframe: View download activity within a specific date range.
  • Format/Platform/OS: Analyze downloads by platform, such as OS or mobile vs. desktop.
  • Geolocation/Channels: Identify download sources by region.
  • Programming Languages: Track downloads of different language-specific packages (e.g., Python, Julia).
  • Package Type: Look at package-specific downloads (e.g., pip, PyPi packages).
  • APIs: (eg., cloud based such as boto3/awscli, gcloud )
  • Version: Examine downloads by software version to understand adoption of new updates.
  • Mobile versus Desktop

It is important to note that some software can be downloaded multiple times on the same system, and different versions of the same software too.

Visualizations

  • Traffic Activity on GitHub
    Example chart showing traffic activity from GitHub
    Figure 1: Traffic activity visualization for GitHub repositories

  • Download Activity on SourceForge
    Example chart showing number of downloads from SourceForge
    Figure 2: Download activity visualization for SourceForge projects


References

Contributors

  • Armstrong Foundjem
  • Elizabeth Barron
  • Yigakpoa L. Ikpae

Additional Information

To edit this metric please submit a Change Request here. To reference this metric in software or publications please use this stable URL: https://chaoss.community/?p=4466

The usage and dissemination of health metrics may lead to privacy violations. Organizations may be exposed to risks. These risks may flow from compliance with the GDPR in the EU, with state law in the US, or with other laws. There may also be contractual risks flowing from terms of service for data providers such as GitHub and GitLab. The usage of metrics must be examined for risk and potential data ethics problems. Please see CHAOSS Data Ethics document for additional guidance.

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