QB64 download stats, from v1.3 to 2.0.1 (today)

[FellippeHeitor]

We don't usually have a clear idea of the numbers, but we do have an idea that Windows users outnumber Linux and macOS users. Today I found a way to get stats for the downloads at our GitHub release page, and thought it'd be interesting to share it with you guys.

These are the stats, updated up to the time of posting this message, of all downloads for versions 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.0 (released a week ago) and 2.0.1 (released 9 hours ago).

 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

[FellippeHeitor]

Not forgetting there's always a big chance of bots loving our downloads, of course. But stats are still cool.

[FellippeHeitor]

Not forgetting there's always a big chance of bots loving our downloads, of course. But stats are still cool.

Although in that case I suppose the distribution between files would have been more uniform... anyway, stats are still cool.

[RhoSigma]

Inded Fellippe, that are impressive numbers there. According to the member base in the forum my best guess had always been between 1000, 2000 or max. 3000, taking into account that some people need to download a couple of times because of interrupted downloads on bad internet lines. But these stats completly outnumber that guess, obviously there are much more hidden/quiet users, who simply take QB64 as is and never complain about bugs or participate in any discussions in the forum.

Especially the hike in numbers from v1.3 to v1.4 makes me curious. Something must happened here, which significantly increased the visibility of QB64 in the broader public and it would be even cooler to make this happen again.

[bplus]

It's all those "professional" programmers who would be extremely embarrassed caught playing with a fun PL. ;-))

[Pete]

Damn bunch of closet FreeBASIC programmers, if you ask me!

Sadly all those stats prove is bots (as you mentioned) prefer Windows over Mac and Linux. Honestly, the only way to get meaningful stats is to use a counter in conjunction with captcha.

Pete

[SMcNeill]

One interesting thing the stats show: 90% of all users are Windows people. 

I’d always assumed Linux made up more than 5% of our user base.  QB64 has always tried so hard to keep every command cross-compatible; even to the point where new commands and features were put on hold because we couldn't sort out the Linux equivalent of WindowFunctionFoo or whatnot.  Might want to rethink that philosophy more as development moves on, after seeing the values here.  ;)

[Pete]

Yes, and sadly... QB64 will no longer support Linux XP... or Mac98. :D

Pete

[bplus]

Probably on lookers come from old QB and DOS and/or Windows OS, MS versions of early Basic

[Pete]

I think we should ask for it to be included in the Microsoft Store. Most of you might recall QBasic was included as part of Windows 3.1 and 98. Hey, maybe they'd include QB64 in whatever comes after Windows11 if we renamed the product... QBasic64 and, wait for it,... QuickerBASIC!

Pete

[SMcNeill]

I think we should ask for it to be included in the Microsoft Store. Most of you might recall QBasic was included as part of Windows 3.1 and 98. Hey, maybe they'd include QB64 in whatever comes after Windows11 if we renamed the product... QBasic64 and, wait for it,... QuickerBASIC!

Pete

Part of the Windows 11 whole overhaul thing is supposed to be to get stuff in the Windows Store easier.  Someone really should see what hoops there are that we'd have to jump through to offer itthere.

[Bert22306]

It's unclear to me whether development build downloads are included in the totals. That's all I ever download.

Interesting stats, though. Would be nice to start seeing numbers in the millions. I think that would be achievable, for example, as Steve suggests, to include QB64 in the Microsoft Store.

[FellippeHeitor]

These refer solely to the stable releases.

[doppler]

I think we should ask for it to be included in the Microsoft Store.

Pete

To get in the store, we got to do a lot of boot licking (Microsoft).  And pay for a signed cert.  I am not licking anybodies boots.  Especially the "Thin Blue Line gang members."

[Pete]

Let's be optimistic we will always have a choice to distribute to all platforms in the future. I have a C-Cleaner app Windows has blocked from start up. It has always worked fine, but MicroSoft decided an update would make certain software no longer start. Instead, it displays a message that the software is not recommended for use and a product should be downloaded from the MicroSoft store to replace it!

Pete