Aggregate CRAN package download statistics across multiple mirrors

by Tim Jurka for R project for statistical computing

The goal of this project is to collect package download data from CRAN mirrors in a central location. Using cloud-computing services such as Amazon Web Services, Rackspace Cloud, or Google AppEngine, the data will be aggregated and relevant statistics will be computed. The approach described below enables us to collect the number of downloads of a package and break it down by package version, R version, and operating system. The statistics would be presented on a user-friendly website accessible to the public.