I often use pkgstats to check the popularity of Arch packages I use. Sometimes I notice a package is declining in popularity, and I’d like to find similar alternatives that are trending instead. Something like https://pkgstats.archlinux.de/fun
Are there any sites that categorize Linux software and show popularity within each category, so it’s easier to discover alternatives?
Using apps by popularity instead of on their actual usefulness is pretty wild.
The logic is that the most useful app will be the most popular by virtue of its utility.
Not always true but I’m sure there’s some correlation.
Popular projects get more attention, more contributions and donations, and as a result are fast to add features, fix bugs and have a larger community to help each other. I would choose a program that’s comparatively simple and stable than a program packed with features I really like, but full of bugs. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to consider popularity as a metric to choose apps
Don’t forget if a previously popular application starts to become unpopular its typically for a good reason! So watching downward trends can also clue you into issues or problems you would not have other wise known.
People dislike change so it takes something decently serious to actually halt momentum.
It’s “what alternatives exist and how can I find them?”, not “I only install popular apps.
I mean, yes, but I don’t think anyone is intending to do use packages only based one factor. Popularity is a reasonable heuristic for quality and long-term continued support. And my reading of OP is that they’re trying to gauge the popularity to use it for that. I think it’s also a decent enough measure for discovery, since usefulness (hopefully) should correlate with popularity and the latter is more measurable.
I usually use these lists to find new stuff. Especially tools on steam deck are way to find that way.