SF.net’s new download stats show where users are coming from

We know where you are. And we’re telling the whole world.

SourceForge.net has been using geolocation information for years to determine which of our many mirror sites should serve each user’s files. When a user downloads a file from SF.net, we determine the downloader’s geolocation, then serve the download from the closest mirror site, which generally yields the fastest download speed.

Recently we updated our system to let site visitors see the geolocation of downloaders. The new beta interface to our download statistics lets you see the location of any project’s users by visiting https://sourceforge.net/downloads/PROJECTNAME/stats_timeline (replace PROJECTNAME with the name of an actual project, obviously). For instance, check out the stats for LAME, May’s project of the month. You can specify a date range, see a breakdown of downloads by operating system, and even view a temperature map showing how popular a project is by country.

Just for fun, we created a geodensity map that shows the location of all users who downloaded files from all SourceForge projects in the last two months. Countries shown in darker colors indicate larger numbers of downloads.

PhpBibliography is one for the books

No one really like compiling bibliographies to accompany scholarly works, but the process doesn’t have to be odious. You can get help from PhpBibliography, which allows you to compile and edit your bibliography online and publish it via the Web.

PhpBibliography sports some nifty features:

• Automatic generation of BibTeX for papers (unless a manual bib item is specified when editing the paper).
• For each paper, you can upload two files and specify two links.
• Papers can be searched with criteria about their fields.
• Besides standard fields, you can specify new attributes for papers.
• Papers can be specified as private (visible only to authorized users).

And it takes some tedious tasks off your to-do list:

• Generates reports filtered by author, by value, and by grouping, up to two levels (e.g., show only papers of given authors, grouped by year and by paper type).
• Generates RSS feeds for search results, reports, and paper lists.
• Searches for possible duplicate papers.

With PhpBibliography, you can include lists of papers and results of reports and searches in other web pages by using a bare layout. You can import papers from the DBLP Computer Science Bibliography, and insert papers through BibTeX items and BibTeX files.

Developer Lorenzo Bettini started the project four years ago when he felt the need for a tool to publish a bibliography that was flexible and easy to use, and he couldn’t find one that fit his criteria. The current release, which came out earlier this month, is a complete rewrite of that first version using the CakePHP framework, which is based on the model-view-controller (MVC) mechanism. It takes care of most recurring jobs, relieving that burden from the programmer, and lets a developer concentrate on the mechanisms and features of his web application.

Bettini says, “In future versions I plan to add more Ajax-based functionalities, and the ability to customize the look of the interface with themes. I need to improve the BibTeX import functionality; I’m searching for open source solutions for this mechanism so as not to reinvent the wheel. I plan to make releases quite often in the next few months, hoping that CakePHP will make it easy to add functionality.”

Bettini says he appreciates help both from programmers, for coding, and users, for feedback in the form of bug reports and feature requests.

Open source pays off for TimeTrex

Many open source businesses have a multi-tiered product model, offering an open source version for free and a closed source version with extra features that users have to pay for. TimeTrex, a Canadian company that offers a web-based payroll and time management application, offers free Standard and commercial Business and Professional editions of its TimeTrex software, but all of them are open source. “Having a freely available edition allows potential customers to test out the software without any restrictions before deciding if they require support or features available in our other products,” says developer Jon Hutchison.

“This model works exceptionally well for us because no two organizations are the same, and we are all about providing our customers with flexibility, both in functionality and price (free). Being open source is the only true way that we can offer our customers the level of flexibility that they require, so it was a easy decision to make.”

TimeTrex allows organizations of all sizes to schedule, track attendance, and pay their employees. It’s a complete drop-in time management solution with a fully integrated payroll module that allows organizations to process their entire payroll, including taxes, deductions, and benefit plans, right through to paying the employees by check or direct deposit, and submitting the necessary reports to the government. The software features an automated installer, an extensive administrator guide, and even video training courses that walk users through the entire setup process from start to finish.

Hutchison says, “TimeTrex is downloaded over 12,000 times each month. We have organizations with as few as two employees and with as many as several thousand employees using TimeTrex on a daily basis.”

The software has been a web application for more than a decade. Hutchison says, “TimeTrex originally started in 1999 as a custom application, under a different name, for a brick-and-mortar franchise with very specific needs that weren’t being met by products on the market at that time. This led TimeTrex to be designed as web-based application that works great for organizations with multiple locations. It was a huge success, and in 2003 the decision was made to start from scratch on a general-purpose payroll and time management application. In its current incarnation TimeTrex has been around for seven years and continues to grow and get stronger every year.

“As an open source company that is fully committed to the open source concept, whenever possible we try to use and support open source tools. TimeTrex was developed in PHP, supporting MySQL and PostgreSQL databases using the Linux operating system. Our entire team – development, support, and sales – uses some flavor of Linux as their primary desktop operating system.”

Hutchison says big changes are coming to the application in the near future. “The entire interface is being rewritten from scratch as a rich Internet application to make better use of drag and drop and other performance and usability enhancements. We will offer a SOAP API covering 100% of the functionality available through the user interface, allowing our customers to easily develop their own extensions or integration modules. We’re also developing a complete human resource management (HRM) module and expense and mileage tracker.”

Though an entire company helps develop and market TimeTrex, Hutchison says, “One of our primary goals is to foster a strong and active development community around TimeTrex. We always welcome people to join in and help out however they can. The best way to get in touch is through our community forums.”