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?
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.