MajorCool Installation Survey

Out of curiosity, I began tracking installations of version 1.2.0 when it was released in Dec 1997. I was primarily interested in how the various configuration options were being utilized. The registration is optional; I don't know how many sites installed the software and didn't want to participate in the census for some reason, but I'm guessing the collected data is a very small representation of the total user base. One thing is assured based on the numbers collected: at least five new MajorCool installations come to life each day.

Not suprisingly, most people just take the defaults during the initial install. However, I did notice some other possible "trends":

• The "friendly name" ($sitename) is most often set to be a domain name. Only a handful of sites chose to use the name for descriptive text as it was originally intended.
• The "simple" siteaddr() module is by far the most common, which is not unreasonable considering that it matches the behavior of Majordomo. Those that have experimented with the pattern match feature have done so mostly via the "domain" and "domain-smtp" modules.
• Far more sites chose "paranoid mode" ($opt_cmdverify) than I would have expected. While this mode is certainly a good Majordomo syntax teaching tool, it does not make for an efficient list management process...
• It's a 50/50 split as far as sites wanting their CGI indexed by Spiders & Crawlers ($opt_robots).
• I have yet to find anyone who turned off the Multipart Server-Push support ($opt_multipart). Not surprising given its no-harm-done "cool" factor.
• More sites hide the admin password ($opt_hiddenpasswd) than hide their list-of-lists ($opt_hiddenlists). This surprises me since disabling hidden lists provides a way to bypass the Majordomo advertise/noadvertise security.

Since I am only notified during an initial install, I do not know how these sites have subsequently tweaked their setup -- in my own experience, the initial install rarely resembles the finished product once all the various options have been appropriately tailored. Therefore, this trend data is probably suspect.

MajorCool -- MaggioreBravo -- MayorFresco -- BesondersToll

I have been surprised by the global appeal that the software seems to have; the diverse user base for each release after only a few months of availability is a testament to the power of the Internet. Many foreign locations cite the point-and-click interface of MajorCool as a key improvement over the English-centric nature of Majordomo. Here's a domain breakdown of known sites (based on the census data from version 1.2.0 and above).

NOTE: These are sites that have installed MajorCool and been willing to admit it; there's no telling how many installations are really out there. If the registration rate-of-return is anything like that of traditional surveys, these numbers represent a mere 1-5% of the real user base. These reflect new installs only; upgrades from previously installed versions are not registered.

---