[Vit-discuss] Top Ruby Projects algorithm?

[James Britt]

Martin DeMello wrote:
> On 8/26/06, James Britt <james.britt at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>Martin DeMello wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On the other hand, the top projects idea does seem to be optimised for
>>>first-time and one-time visitors to the page, which is likely to be
>>>the overwhelming scenario.
>>
>>Optimized for what?  Because first and one-time visitors come there to
>>find a list of (some of) the most-downloaded RubyForge projects?
> 
> 
> Optimised for letting a casual passerby know what some of the popular
> things people are using ruby for are.

I don't see that knowing that Rails and 1-click installer are the 
most-oft download packages tells anyone what people are actual using 
Ruby for.  Real-world stories might better serve that goal.


> 
> 
>>How do you know that usage by this group constitutes an "overwhelming
>>scenario", and is optimizing that page for first- and one-timers a
>>proper goal?
> 
> 
> Just a guess, but I don't really see anything in the ruby front page
> that will encourage repeat visits by an established rubyist.
> 

But that is by choice.   It seems tautological to say that since the 
site seems to favor newcomers, then what goes into the site should be 
focused on newcomers.


> 
>> > And top downloads from rubyforge is a very
>> > real measure of how useful people are finding the library.
>>
>>No it's not.  It's a very real measure of how often something has been
>>downloaded.  Beyond that, it's guessing.
> 
> 
> Granted, but if we *are* going to do an automated list of popular
> projects I can't think of a better way to do it.

Yes. My questions are: who are the target audience, what are their 
needs, and does a list of what's most-downloaded make the best use of 
screen space to address those needs?



James Britt