Hylke Bons 🥜2d ago

we need to talk about these negative reviews in #gnome #software. they're absolutely useless?

I wonder if that's why #flathub and #bazaar don't show them?

even with a bad bug report I'm happy to help track down the problem. this however leaves me with nothing but a bad feeling.

perhaps we can ask to file a report when users select a 1 or 2 star review. the link is right there in the metainfo file...

Show threadHylke Bons 🥜2d ago

in the proprietary app world this may be expected because it's harder to engage with the developers.

but we have the benefit to actually reach out and fix stuff fast.

Show threadSriram "sri" Ramkrishna - 😼2d ago
@hbons some folks just have an emotional response and just throw in "feedback" with absolutely no detail. That said user reviewers are not bug reports. So I expect feedback to be kind of vague if they run into problems.
Show threadHylke Bons 🥜2d ago
@sri it's not ideal, but if I can reach out somehow to get a log that's fine...
Show threadSriram "sri" Ramkrishna - 😼2d ago
@hbons might worth communicating a way to reach the developer directly within gnome software or flathub.
Niko1d ago
Show threadCassidy James   

@sri @hbons I've landed on the idea that app store feedback should look like:

👍 I like it!
⚠️ Report an issue

You can calculate relative rankings based on number of downloads combined with number of 👍. And then reporting an issue should go straight to the developer's issue reporting solution, not the app store.

I don’t think qualitative free-form reviews are a successful design, *especially* with how software packaging works on Linux.

Apr 13 at 4:13pmWeb
Show threadCassidy James   2d ago
@sri @hbons if we want qualitative social proof, it needs to look completely different. Probably in the form of editorial content from the app store itself—which is a lot more work but also carries a lot more weight
Show threadJeff Fortin T. (風の庭園のNekohayo)2d ago

@cassidy @sri @hbons
In the world of constantly-improving FLOSS apps, negative reviews absolutely need a limited lifespan IMHO, because they will never reflect reality in anything beyond short-term shelf life: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-software/-/issues/2181

#MaintainerLife #FreeSoftware #FLOSS #OpenSource

Bad reviews/ratings never expire - Need a way to filter them out or statistically weight them (#2181) · Issues · GNOME / gnome-software · GitLab

TLDR Unlike positive reviews, negative ratings/reviews should have a limited shelf life. If I am not mistaken (based on...

GitLab
Show threadSteven Deobald2d ago

@cassidy i'd be down to puke out editorial content for gnome apps on flathub, if there was backend support ... that actually sounds kind of fun and relaxing. i find myself doing a half-baked job of that on here and bsky anyway, though my reviews here just tend to be effusive nonsense. ;)

cc @razze (in case this is already a thing or ends up in the pipeline)

@nekohayo @sri @hbons

Show threadJuan Pablo Ugarte2d ago
@nekohayo @cassidy @sri @hbons
Look at this gem!
I wonder which version Andy was using that gave him so much issues.
Show threadAlexander Vanhee2d ago

@cassidy @sri @hbons I would think the rate of likes vs downloads could differ depending on how much specific app stores push users to like apps in their UIs. If KDE Discover, for example, decided not to promote the like feature as strongly, we might see lower scores for KDE apps.

There is also the issue that Flatpak updates sometimes get counted as downloads for technical reasons.

Show threadJelv🎴1d ago
@cassidy @sri @hbons sounds like something @overcastfm also faced with wanting not having to deal person generated content. The like button or stars like Overcast implemented it, seems reasonable. Can you also implement regional rankings with that data? Have you looked into @mangroveReviews for the reviews maybe? @MapComplete @pietervdvn published its year in reviews recently that is based on Mangrove https://pietervdvn.me/2026/04/05/an-overview-of-reviews-made-with-mapcomplete-2026-edition/
An overview of reviews made with MapComplete – 2026 edition – Pietervdvn's blog

Show threadMichael Nordmeyer1d ago
@cassidy @sri @hbons Rankings can always be gamed, and most of the time they will. In this case, someone could download apps over and over again, and the ranking will drop. This will not only hurt the people whose app is downranked, but also the people who host the downloads.