SourceForge Appeals To Readers For Help Nixing Bad Ad Actors 198
Last week, we mentioned that the GIMP project had elected to leave SourceForge as its host, citing SourceForge's advertising policies. SourceForge (which shares a parent company with Slashdot) has released a statement about those policies, addressing in particular both ads that are confusing in themselves and their revenue-sharing system called DevShare, based on the provision of third-party software along with users' downloads. Among other things, the SF team is appealing to users to help them find and block misleading ads, and has this to say about the additional downloads: "The DevShare program has been designed to be fully transparent. The installation flow has no deceptive steps, all offers are fully disclosed, and the clear option to completely decline the offer is always available. All uninstallation procedures are exhaustively documented, and all third party offers go through a comprehensive compliance process to make sure they are virus and malware free."
download.com did it... (Score:3, Interesting)
... and I left them too, almost a decade ago. it cost me downloads, but saved my customers from their intrusive bundled downloads.
Re:Horse, Stable, Bolted (Score:4, Interesting)
Nothing they could ever say or do will ever win me back. When you install malware on my system, we're done--for good.
Re:SourceForge has shown it can't be trusted. (Score:1, Interesting)
Worst case study happened to me.,
Clicking too fast installed the bundled crap. loaded all three browsers with toolbars. System restore didn't get rid of all of it. Stuff from Conduit still would not delete. Had to nuke from orbit and reformat to get rid of all of it. Couple days lost to reinstall everything.
Interestingly, the bundled installer pulls the junk from the internet during the moment of install. This means the spyware bypasses the automated download scanner, and that it can be avoided altogether by disconnecting the internet during installation.
So now you know...
SourceForge also shown it's hard to use (Score:5, Interesting)
In the wake of the scandal I have just finished moving all my projects to GitHub, and man, it's been worth it. I mean, have you noticed how incredibly slow SourceForge is lately? I've been using it for over ten years now, and it's been getting slower and slower. I got used to it, but now on GitHub I'm constantly amazed that I don't have to wait a few minutes for the project page to load. Or the fact that I don't even have to go there any more because I can make releases by creating a tag and project web page is just another git branch. How do you update a SourceForge web page again? I'll have to look it up, 'cause I don't remember at all. I only remember that ssh, scp, and lots of manual copying was involved. SourceForge's release system is a pain, and really, the only feature SourceForge has that GitHub does not is access statistics, but this feature hasn't worked properly ever since the big UI overhaul a few years back. Frankly, I don't see any reason to ever go back to SourceForge.
Re:Missing the point (Score:5, Interesting)
I couldn't believe it when I installed some software from Sourceforge a while back and ended up with a malware toolbar in my browser (that was a huge PITA to remove, no less). At first I thought it was a mistake, that I *must* have gotten it from somewhere else. Then when I heard similar stories from others and realized it was intentional, just a cheap money grab--I knew the Sourceforge I once knew and trusted could never be trusted by me (or supported) ever again. Sad day.
Was there a check-box to opt-out of the malware installation, or was the malware installed silently? I've installed several programs from SF recently, and I read all of the dialogs, but I haven't seen any opt-outs or malware.
Re:how about... (Score:5, Interesting)
Exactly.
I just checked yesterday, and the thing is still loaded with malware Download buttons.
This morning, it looks slightly different, but on four different projects the biggest button
on the page was MALWARE download button. (Adblock switched off).
Why can't they just put them all in a separate box labeled MALWARE - DON'T CLICK!.
Or header the column they are in with a ADVERTISEMENT - Not the software you were looking for" banner.
SourceForge has definitely suffered since being picked up by Dice Holdings, and it is probably
an indication of what will happen to Slashdot over time.
Re:Missing the point (Score:4, Interesting)
I would hope that at the very least, Sourceforge would make these add-on sales pitches to be turned off by default and make them opt-in instead of opt-out.
I've had to sit my wife and daughter down and explain to them how when they update Java or Adobe anything they have to be sure to turn off all the BS programs that those installers will try to slip by them, because of their horrible opt-out malware installers.
Re:Missing the point (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm tired of this ridiculous argument. It sounds stupid when you say it but you think you're technically correct. Well you're not. They actually have 2 sets of customers. They get something non-monetary from one set, which they trade to the other set for cash. If they lose either customer they are going out of business.
Re:Don't make users opt-out (Score:4, Interesting)
Opt in for DEVELOPER. People who download get boned and don't get asked if they want a condom or not.