
Ask HN: Just how many developers am I competing against? - prmph
So I was looking at the stats for this npm module [1], and I was shocked to see:<p>440,000 downloads in the last day 
8,177,477 downloads in the last week, and
33,166,896 downloads in the last month.<p>Granted, a developer can install a module many times for multiple projects, but still, millions of downloads in just a week makes me uneasy.<p>I am an independent contractor, and what with everybody calling for just about everybody else to &quot;learn to code&quot;, just how many developers am I competing against for jobs?<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.npmjs.com&#x2F;package&#x2F;glob
======
tariqali34
Not all those downloads are for actual projects. Many people have set up their
own private "npm repositories" so that if they actually need to use a node
package, they can just download from their private repos rather than
downloading from npmjs (which be slow or down). The _catch_ is that since they
don't know what packages from npm they have to end up downloading, and disk
space is very cheap, it is much easier and convenient to download everything
from NPM. Hence, inflated download numbers. Here how it can be done:

[http://www.clock.co.uk/blog/how-to-create-a-private-npmjs-
re...](http://www.clock.co.uk/blog/how-to-create-a-private-npmjs-repository)

Some people have figured out how to create a private npm repository that isn't
just a complete duplicate of the npmjs repository. I don't know how common
this approach is though. You can read this SO question for more information:
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14609131/can-i-run-a-
priv...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14609131/can-i-run-a-private-npm-
repository-without-replicating-the-public-repository)

Also, note that even if these download numbers are real, all they indicate is
that certain tools that developers have built are very popular with other
developers. Developers don't just build tools for other developers. They have
to actually use these tools to build stuff that other humans can use. Your
competition is with developers within your locality who are trying to prove
that they are best-suited towards meeting business needs and building stuff.

All these npm packages aren't your rivals, they're free tools to help you meet
business tools (Although whether you actually need to use those tools is
another question entirely).

