Traffic analysis tools for websites
Data for Breakfast
© Lead Image © rawpixel, 123RF.com
If you are looking for an alternative to Google Analytics for studying website data, you can choose from a few free alternatives. In this article, we look at Piwik, Open Web Analytics, and eAnalytics.
Admins who wanted details of the visitors to their websites in the early years of the Internet had to laboriously read the web server's logs. The first log file analysis applications appeared 20 years ago. Analog [1], Webalizer [2] and AWStats [3], which date from this period, are still occasionally in use (see the "Simple Web Analytics Tools" box).
In 2005, Google launched Google Analytics (GA) [4], a website analysis service that is hugely popular today. Open source tools such as Piwik [5] picked up on this trend towards graphical web analytics, but moved its focus to the customer's own server.
With the help of web analytics, site operators collect and evaluate data on the surfing habits of their visitors. The access data are of interest not only for commercial reasons; the companies behind the sites also often seek to better understand their customers and their interests. The following applies: The closer an operator knows the visitors and their preferences, the better the operator can optimize its offerings to suit the target group.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
2,000 Vulnerabilities per Linux Release
Thanks to AI bug hunters, the Linux kernel is seeing record numbers of vulnerabilities, and it's overwhelming developers.
-
Linux Exempt from California’s Age Verification Law
So long as Linux is distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses, the OS is exempt from being required to verify the age of its users in California.
-
Roll Out the Cake: Linux Turns 35
35 years ago, a Finnish student began a humble project that would forever change the course of technology.
-
China Switching from Windows to Linux
China has ordered several government agencies to drop a Chinese-developed version of Windows 10 in favor of either KylinOS or UOS.
-
Pine64 Halts Production of Linux Devices
With continued DRAM and eMMC shortages, Pine64 has decided to discontinue production of Linux devices.
-
The Bullet-Proof KDE Software Initiative Is Coming
KDE, Techpaladin, and Kubuntu Focus have announced a new initiative that will provide at least three years of support for KDE Plasma 6.6 LTS and related software.
-
Linux Mint Shares a Possible Kernel Cleanup Solution
For those on Linux Mint who like to keep multiple kernels around but don't want them to take up too much space, you might be getting a new automated tool.
-
CachyOS Gets an Update
CachyOS August 2026 release is now available with the latest version of KDE, some new features, and plenty of improvements.
-
The Linux Kernel Dev Staging Area Now Rejects AI-Generated Patches
Unless a kernel patch is a valid security fix, it will be rejected if it was created using AI.
-
Linux Surpasses Double-Digit Market Share
According to two sources, the Linux operating system has hit a major milestone in market share that naysayers thought would never happen.