Scarf Gateway
Infrastructure
download analytics
SHOW HN2021
How HN took it
2 positive, 6 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 2 critical, out of 11 comments about the project. Thread score +0.10.
Privacy: 1 for, 2 againstIdea: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful for open source maintainers wanting usage insight
From 2 comments
Highly recommend to try this out if you run an open source project and want to get some insights about usage. Avi gave me a demo last week as we’ve been looking on how to get…
_query on HNI think this is great as long as you respect GDPR. Tracking is not inherently bad. And I had some pain tracking downloads of our OSS project files, thankfully Eclipse Foundation…
smarx007 on HN
Better than the earlier scarf-js approach
From 1 comment
I like this approach slightly better than what scarfjs was doing. I first ran into that with react query a few years ago. It was a chilling effect for me at least and I was glad…
uzername on HN
Objections
Tracking downloads raises privacy concerns and feels like a dark pattern
From 3 comments
This is impressive, but seems like a dark pattern to me a la tracking pixels in emails. An annoying use case I could see this used for is targeted spam. Say a company selling a…
putnambr on HNYou're going to be walking a thin (and difficult) line if you're trying to find open source developers also interested in introducing involuntary tracking to their software. Open…
smoldesu on HNTake your cut, pick-and-choose your criticism, but remember you're working in a privacy-conscious sector.
smoldesu on HN
GDPR compliance concerns about IP handling and opt-out
From 1 comment
I think this is great as long as you respect GDPR. Tracking is not inherently bad. And I had some pain tracking downloads of our OSS project files, thankfully Eclipse Foundation…
smarx007 on HN
Can't distinguish one user downloading many times from many users behind one IP
From 1 comment
That means you can't distinguish between one user downloading many times and many users on one ISP, right?
yjftsjthsd-h on HN
Requests
Provide a clear opt-out mechanism for end users
From 2 comments
> Curious to hear what people think. How would someone opt-out of being tracked that something's been downloaded?
inetknght on HNWhy not check the Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control header? Having a query param seems like more friction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track
milkytron on HN
Respect Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control headers
From 1 comment
Why not check the Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control header? Having a query param seems like more friction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track
milkytron on HN
Questions
How is personally identifiable information avoided
From 1 comment
Saw this on Twitter yesterday, and it looks interesting. With that said, the one concern my team has is around privacy. The blog post says: "All without ever having access to…
jdorfman on HN
How can someone opt out of being tracked on download
From 1 comment
> Curious to hear what people think. How would someone opt-out of being tracked that something's been downloaded?
inetknght on HN
Alternatives named
Scarf.js pixel/analytics package
From 1 comment
I like this approach slightly better than what scarfjs was doing. I first ran into that with react query a few years ago. It was a chilling effect for me at least and I was glad…
uzername on HN
GitHub download and clone stats
From 1 comment
I wonder why GitHub shows number of visits / clones, but not release artifact downloads.
nixwatch510 on HN
Eclipse Foundation anonymous statistics tools
From 1 comment
I think this is great as long as you respect GDPR. Tracking is not inherently bad. And I had some pain tracking downloads of our OSS project files, thankfully Eclipse Foundation…
smarx007 on HN