I suggested on the German list to turn off our page counter, like the English Wp did long ago. I hope we can gain a bit more performance, and maybe some of the other "big" 'pedias will follow.
Everybody on the list agreed, though some disliked to see another (partly) useful function go for performance's sake.
Kurt
P.S.: Maybe the data can be archived for the archeologists somehow ...
wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org