[aqme28]

Made one for an internal feature using an overly simple algorithm (% of tasks completed). I was the only one using the tool so I understood the tradeoffs of the progress bar. After a while this tool made it into wider use, but the progress bar remained.

[recursivecaveat]

Such a bar is fine imo, especially considering the ratio of effort to return, and much preferable to a spinner. Even if the relative size of various tasks is totally random and disproportionate, at least when the bar fills up, even a pixel, you know forward progress is still being made. The spinner will just spin forever, whether it is deadlocked or not.