[Mapserver-users] how many mapserver users are over the world?

[Tyler Mitchell]

Selling software makes it soo much easier :)

We sure talk about "users" pretty loosely too - usually we talk about the 
actual app. developers and "map makers" but add in the "clients" of those 
applications and it must be quite interesting (and equally unmeasurable).


> Always the great unknown. Open source software is downloaded and used 
> alot of the time by people who never join the lists. So lists are only a 

> pale reflection of overall useage.
> 
> It would be nice if mapserver had a 'phone-home' that hit a particular 
> URL at UMN once and reported back it's version number and IP address. 
> Then UMN could compile statistics about real mapserver usage, in terms 
> of version deployed, and general location deployed (using some of the 
> simple IP->location databases). It could be disabled with a 
> --disabe-phonehome compile option for those who are shy, and would only 
> do it once (dropping a file into tmp perhaps to indicate it has been 
done?).
> 
> A dream, I know, but it is sad that we do not know the true size of our 
> user community.
> 
> I have often thought that