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Sorry if this is a bit 'generic'. I maintain a C# open source project on GitHub and from what I can see on GitHub Help (and similar searches on here) there is no way to track the number of downloads of your project.

I'm interested to know how many people have installed my Windows application, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions, or recommended ways to somehow monitor the number of project installs?

Rawns
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    You can't accurately determine install numbers based on the `number of downloads` because, as mentioned in a recent ACM magazine article, someone at a university could download it **once**, then dish it out over a local LAN. **DRM** is one reasonably accurate way, but considering your software is open source and available on _GitHub_, someone can merely **disable** it in the code –  Feb 17 '17 at 14:39
  • Thanks @MickyD. I thought installs might be easier to track than downloads (for ensuring some level of accuracy). – Rawns Feb 17 '17 at 15:00

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Probably the easiest way to monitor the number of installs is in your install script, have it connect to a server for 'validation' of some kind and account that it was installed to a db somewhere. Increment it up if you just want raw numbers, or, make at least basic registration of the app a requirement during install (like email address and name, then store that in a db). Count the number of rows at any time and you will get the number of installs. If you want unique installs, maybe filter by email address.

Steven Melendez
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    I've done something similar using Google Analytics. Note some users won't want to be tracked so articulate any data you want to collect. – osowskit Feb 17 '17 at 16:43
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Just to add if someone refers to this thread in the future...

Not a 100% definitive way, however seems to work well as a additional distribution method. I've taken to publishing my application through Chocolatey. It allows easy install by end users if they use Chocolatey, and also tracks install numbers (and can break down by version too).

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Rawns
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