Disable public project counts on welcome page

For instances with large number of projects, doing an exact count of
public projects is expensive. The text is also not necessary on the
welcome page.

Closes https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/36874

app/views/dashboard/projects/_blank_state_welcome.html.haml

-- public_project_count = ProjectsFinder.new(current_user: current_user).execute.count
-
 .blank-state-row
   - if current_user.can_create_project?
     = link_to new_project_path, class: "blank-state blank-state-link" do
@@ -30,7 +28,6 @@
         %p.blank-state-text
           Groups are the best way to manage projects and members.
 
-  - if public_project_count > 0
   = link_to trending_explore_projects_path, class: "blank-state blank-state-link" do
     .blank-state-icon
       = custom_icon("globe", size: 50)
@@ -38,9 +35,6 @@
       %h3.blank-state-title
         Explore public projects
       %p.blank-state-text
-          There are
-          = number_with_delimiter(public_project_count)
-          public projects on this server.
         Public projects are an easy way to allow
         everyone to have read-only access.
 

changelogs/unreleased/sh-avoid-project-count-new-user.yml

+---
+title: Disable public project counts on welcome page
+merge_request: 20517
+author:
+type: performance