[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #6511: Bring back the active install growth chart

[Making WordPress.org]

#6511: Bring back the active install growth chart
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 Reporter:  markzahra         |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  high              |   Milestone:
Component:  Plugin Directory  |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                    |
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Comment (by johnjamesjacoby):

 > It feels like people remixing open data is exactly what it’s intended
 for?

 The Active Installs endpoint for Plugins was not built with the intention
 of the data [https://github.com/Yoast/singer-tap-wordpress-plugin-stats
 being scraped].

 1. It was not published on the
 [https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress.org_API WordPress.org API page]
 1. It is not used by WordPress Core
 1. It was used publicly in Meta once: in the theme > in the JavaScript >
 for the intended chart
 1. The amazing !WordPress.org Systems Team designed & maintains a robust
 hosting setup, but unanticipated overuse of any API will have negative
 consequences for other areas (not to mention costs).

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 > Is this or is this not a security related fix

 Yes, it is.

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 > If someone has reasons to bring it back that haven't been presented
 above already, please add it to this thread so we have the best possible
 presentation of that side of the argument to consider.

 One reason I have not seen mentioned yet here ''explicitly'', is that APIs
 like the one in question – when working as intended – enable extremely
 neat learning (and business) opportunities, specifically for a subsection
 of data scientists that currently do not have much reason to be attracted
 to !WordPress.org as a source of data to analyze, study, and glean insight
 from.

 In other words, the folks who had identified & implemented the API may not
 have felt any need to consider their own ethical consequences, because
 they were pioneering & learning how to work with a fascinating new data
 source that was not ''explicitly unavailable'' even if it was not
 ''explicitly open''.

 Maybe it was just... fun?

 I think... there is an opportunity – even if it is not in "our"
 wheelhouse, even if not existent – for the WordPress Project to similarly
 pioneer & prioritize an ethical type of relevant, anonymized, obfuscated
 statistical analysis interface (much like how GlotPress does such an
 awesome job with i18n, etc...) to help influence how the web could
 democratize data collection. 💙

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6511#comment:15>
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