[Python-checkins] MSI being downloaded 10x more than all otherfiles?!

[Terry Reedy]

"Guido van Rossum" <guido at python.org> wrote in message 
news:ca471dc20612080701o19527115ma038d328815442e1 at mail.gmail.com...
>I looked through the python.org web stats (as I usually do when
> preparing for a keynote) and discovered that
> /ftp/python/2.5/python-2.5.msi is by far the top download -- 271,971
> hits, more than 5x the next one, /ftp/python/2.5/Python-2.5.tgz
> (47,898 hits). Are these numbers real? (The byte counts suggest they
> are.)

How do the first two months downloads of 2.5.msi compare to 2.4.msi?

> What could cause this dramatic popularity of Python on Windows?
> Does some vendor have an auto-install hook that installs Python
> whenever someone opens up their new computer? Or have we just hit the
> jackpot?

I would interpret this as the cumulative effect of 15 (+/-) years of 
patiently promoting Python by leading the effort to release an constantly 
improving product.  Plus, it is free and by current standards, a relatively 
small download.  Almost a no-brainer for a programmer with a Windows 
machine (or machines).

I first heard of Python about a decade ago in a c.l.perl..misc posting, 
which newgroup I visited as suggested by a Dr.Dobb's columnist.  Since 
then, DD has had nuerous articles mentioning or using Python, and I see 
Python references on the net more frequently than even 5 years ago.

So go ahead and celebrate, and keep working on an easier-to-learn 3.0;-)

Terry Jan Reedy

PS. I am teaching Python to my 12 year old, with the help of the Python 
version of How to Think Like a Computer Scientist.  Yeasterday she wrote 
her first real program ("What Planet Am I?") and was proud and happy 
showing it off to her mom.  So, to her, Python is a mainstream language.