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I wish F-Droid showed usage stats. Sorting by "last updated" doesn't really tell you anything about the app's quality, and I really do not want to install and

by crote 3y ago

I wish F-Droid showed usage stats. Sorting by "last updated" doesn't really tell you anything about the app's quality, and I really do not want to install and try 30 different apps solving the same problem just to see which one is better. Plenty of people have done so before me, so just tell me which one is the most popular!

em3rgent0rdr 3y ago
Mandatory reporting of usage statistics runs contrary to one of the freedoms inherent to FOSS, that the software is for the user's freedom. But surely there should be a way to reconcile no-spying with usage reporting through some voluntary means. For example, Debian allows users to install the popularity-contest package.
- hutzlibu 3y ago
  "Mandatory reporting of usage statistics runs contrary to one of the freedoms inherent to FOSS, that the software is for the user's freedom." Why? You don't need to do tracking, just have a counter on the server that increases every time someone downloads the repository. What does this have to do with FOSS?
  - blntechie 3y ago
    That's how Google Analytics started.
    - hutzlibu 3y ago
      No it is not. A counter on the website was a gimmick from the early web days and google analytics had a very different purpose from the beginning.
  - em3rgent0rdr 3y ago
    Such a download counter is not an accurate measure of usage.
- gitgud 3y ago
  What other ways could you rank by popularity then?
- pserwylo 3y ago
  This is the discussion on implementing a popcon-style feature in F-Droid if you want to read through where the project got to: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient/-/issues/396 https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient/-/issues/396
mid-kid 3y ago
For any given purpose, there's usually maybe three apps in the store that fit the bill. Sorting by last updated is a great way to find the most popular apps, as they're generally also the most well-maintained. There's little reason to keep updating an app when something else does everything better. The only "old" app I keep using is Barcode Scanner (com.google.zxing.client.android), since it's a classic that will likely never stop working.
dbeley 3y ago
I created a small website to display F-Droid apps with their repository information (from github, gitlab, etc), it's not perfect but it can give more insights on a project popularity. It's available here: https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/ https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/

by crote 3y ago

em3rgent0rdr 3y ago

Mandatory reporting of usage statistics runs contrary to one of the freedoms inherent to FOSS, that the software is for the user's freedom. But surely there should be a way to reconcile no-spying with usage reporting through some voluntary means. For example, Debian allows users to install the popularity-contest package.

hutzlibu 3y ago
"Mandatory reporting of usage statistics runs contrary to one of the freedoms inherent to FOSS, that the software is for the user's freedom." Why? You don't need to do tracking, just have a counter on the server that increases every time someone downloads the repository. What does this have to do with FOSS?
- blntechie 3y ago
  That's how Google Analytics started.
  - hutzlibu 3y ago
    No it is not. A counter on the website was a gimmick from the early web days and google analytics had a very different purpose from the beginning.
- em3rgent0rdr 3y ago
  Such a download counter is not an accurate measure of usage.
gitgud 3y ago
What other ways could you rank by popularity then?
pserwylo 3y ago
This is the discussion on implementing a popcon-style feature in F-Droid if you want to read through where the project got to: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient/-/issues/396 https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient/-/issues/396

mid-kid 3y ago

For any given purpose, there's usually maybe three apps in the store that fit the bill. Sorting by last updated is a great way to find the most popular apps, as they're generally also the most well-maintained. There's little reason to keep updating an app when something else does everything better. The only "old" app I keep using is Barcode Scanner (com.google.zxing.client.android), since it's a classic that will likely never stop working.

dbeley 3y ago

I created a small website to display F-Droid apps with their repository information (from github, gitlab, etc), it's not perfect but it can give more insights on a project popularity. It's available here: https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/ https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/