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SourceForge Open Source Programming

SourceForge Debuts New UI and GitHub Sync Tool (sourceforge.net) 121

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
SourceForge on Tuesday introduced an overhaul of its website to give it a new look and add new features. Among the most notable additions, the popular repository, which hosts over 430,000 projects and 3.7 million registered developers, said it was creating a GitHub Importer tool which would enable developers to import their GitHub project to SourceForge and also sync their GitHub project file releases on SourceForce so they "can take advantage of the strengths of both platforms." In a blog post, the team wrote:We believe the open source community is always better served when there are multiple options for open source projects to live, and these options are not mutually exclusive. More improvements and new features are on track to be released throughout the year, the team wrote.
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SourceForge Debuts New UI and GitHub Sync Tool More

SourceForge Debuts New UI and GitHub Sync Tool

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  • Pop-ups... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Wednesday January 10, 2018 @11:03AM (#55901011)
    Hopefully they got rid of that annoying pop-up that appears every time I'm sent to the site to download something. There's no way I'd want to use such a site if that is how my visitors would be treated.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Tailhook ( 98486 )

      Nope. Still there. Same spammy looking site it's been for 15 years. Still a pain to find the link to source code as well, when code should be what appears in front, on top, by default. Want to see changes? Can't find that list anywhere either.

      Nope. Nope. Nope.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I actually quite liked the old style Sourceforge, where each project main page was a description with links to code browsers, wikis, forums, and the website. Github is a bit of a pain in the arse by comparison if I'm flicking through search results looking for a suitable module or project to look at (which is the usual way I'd arrive at either site).

        I had a bunch of stuff on SF for years but nothing that's been actively developed for the last decade. Back in the day they had the best infrastructure (shell s

        • The best way these days to find packages for languages , imho are the "Awesome " compilations you'll find in various githubs. Check it. If your a C# dude, look for "Awesome C#". If your a python dude, look for "Awesome Python". They tend to be well curated and work on submissions and review, so MOST of them are fairly trusty.

          However different languages have their own discovery mechanisms too. For PHP, use Packagist, and similar things exist for Gem, Pip , NPM etc.

      • ...Nope. Still there.

        Oh well. At some point websites are going to start realizing that the best way to have more participation, is to stop chasing away potential participants with annoying web site "features."

      • What are you talking about? There's a huge tab called "Code" in every project page. If that's a pain for you to find, I can't imagine how painful it is to read the actual code. Also, I think most people want to know what's the project about (the summary) and perhaps see a few screenshots, the code, for most users, is secondary.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by LesFerg ( 452838 )

        Can't you just pull the project down and use your local GIT to view changes?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        I don't get pop ups, FWIW.

        I can see that SF could serve a useful role as an end user oriented site, to complement sites like GitHub that are more developer oriented. I'm just not sure about things like having two bug trackers or if it's a viable business model.

  • Too little, too late (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Brendan Robert ( 2820681 ) on Wednesday January 10, 2018 @11:10AM (#55901049)
    There's literally nothing they can do to rebuild the confidence that was lost, short of just rebranding and building a new community. I don't know of anyone who has still forgiven them for injecting adware into downloads. I agree with them that developers are best served with as many options as possible, and that's why so many people have ditched them years ago. I appreciate the challenge of providing a community free service and having to find affordable ways to keep the lights on. But they botched it. Game over, man. Put a fork in it because it's done.

    • Re:Too little, too late (Score:5, Interesting)

      by whipslash ( 4433507 ) Works for Slashdot on Wednesday January 10, 2018 @11:34AM (#55901253) Journal
      Yeah I didn't like them adding adware to downloads either so I bought SourceForge and removed the adware. Doesn't really matter if we convince anyone else, we're just gonna do right by the 1 million daily users and 430,00 projects there

      • How many of those users are actually committing code? I've gone to SF a few times recently to look at the code for orphaned projects and see if they're worth reviving, but that's about it. I'd love to see some serious competition to GitHub, but I'm not convinced that SF is in a position to provide it. GitHub at least has a solid business model (get people hooked on the free service, then sell them various degrees of hosted service).

        The main advantage for a project using GitHub is the network effect.

        • Re:Too little, too late (Score:5, Interesting)

          by whipslash ( 4433507 ) Works for Slashdot on Wednesday January 10, 2018 @11:55AM (#55901443) Journal
          GitHub lost $66 million last year so it's not quite solid yet. There's a lot of active projects committing code on SF despite the fact that there are a lot of inactive ones. We will make it easier to see which ones are active soon.
          • Just please make sure that the measure of activity is not just by commits, code changes, etc. Some projects are just "feature complete / done" and shouldn't be de-listed or downranked in searches.
        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by LesFerg ( 452838 )

            Hey, SF was my reason for learning to use GIT. A number of years ago I migrated my project from their original version control system to GIT, and whenever a user of my app contacts me about an extra feature I get into that code, thank myself for making useful code comments, and add that feature in. It doesn't have to get weekly updates to be a live project, and SF suits me just fine.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by LesFerg ( 452838 )

          I haven't updated my project for 3 years, but I do intend to fix a few bugs sometime soon... any minute now I may start coding...
          Really, if any user actually found the main bug I am concerned with and reported it, I would be writing the fix immediately, since the users are all happy with the features they use, it is on the long-term plans to get around to it. Honest. : )

      • Yeah I didn't like them adding adware to downloads either so I bought SourceForge and removed the adware. Doesn't really matter if we convince anyone else, we're just gonna do right by the 1 million daily users and 430,00 projects there

        That's like buying the Chicken Ranch and trying to convince people that it's just a bar and hotel now. While still calling it the Chicken Ranch.

        I mean yeah, it might work ... but good luck.

        • Not really. It's like buying an open source repository that has over 30 million users per month and doing right by the people that still use it. If we get new people, great.
      • I applaud your efforts, and I think that you're making valid decisions and are doing very good things to salvage the brand. Redesigning the site is a good step in rebuilding the brand. You might want to make it more apparent that the site is under new management with the new manifesto very clearly spelled out from page 1. Sorry if I came off really harshly, I actually didn't know the site changed ownership and I've had projects hosted there (now defunct) for well over a decade. I really hope you are suc
        • Thanks for the feedback

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by LesFerg ( 452838 )

          Can anybody state exactly how many download/installers actually had the bundled adware?
          As far as I can tell it was only a few projects, and those were projects which appeared to have been abandoned by their original creators.
          All the software which was still under active management and being updated was adware free, unless the project owner decided to include it.

          Am I wrong in my recollections?

          The crap decisions by the management of the day were actually quite small, the massive over-reaction by the citizens

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • I don't know of anyone who has forgiven them for injecting adware into downloads.

      The Legions of Undying Rancour spawned by SourceForge go a lot further back than that.

      SourceForge drifting [fsfe.org] (2001) by Loic Dachary

      But when I read the details of their copyright assignment, I saw major problems. I was asked to assign copyright of my work that "is, or may in the future be, utilised in the SourceForge collaborative software development platform". The assignment was not limited to my contribution to the SourceForge

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LesFerg ( 452838 )

      The previous owners only interfered with a small selection of projects. Other project owners were given the option of including a revenue generator in their installers.
      My app was never altered by anybody other than myself, and my users were still happy to keep downloading and using it.
      I have had a good 10 years of hosting and support, and the new owners are very determined to move on from all the silliness and mistakes of the past, I just wish all the whiners would get over it too.

  • And the three people who still use Sourceforge must be ecstatic.

  • There is a simple test to decide if "feature" is part of Embrace, Extend and (try to) Extinguish strategy:

    Q1 : Does it have an import feature? answer= A1

    Q2: Does it have an export feature? answer= A2

    if (A1 && !A2) {

    return "yes, it is an EEE";

    }

  • Giving projects a workaround to install Malware means Sourceforge continues to be blocked on the networks I control. If you haven't seen it, the workaround is in allowing a project to use an installer that downloads additional code during the installation process. Sourceforge has opted to put tiny yellow text next to the download button with innocuous sounding language. I can only assume that Sourceforge has decided to continue hosting these projects despite knowing that they are dangerous due to either

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LesFerg ( 452838 )

      Are you implying that GITHUB has a QA team which vets every project and every download on their site?

      I usually check around for the reputation of any software I am considering installing, if there is something abusive on any open source site, I would expect to find discussions of that someplace.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kobun ( 668169 )
        Nope, not at all. That seems like an absurd conclusion to jump to from what I wrote.

        SourceForge is simply lumped in with all of the other "free" download sites on the internet, as is befitting the risk profile they present.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • It's a great start... but why so many ads? Take a look at any project page, for example: https://sourceforge.net/projects/squirrel-sql/ [sourceforge.net]. come on, does it really need ads on the top, side, middle, AND bottom? That just makes the site look spammy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dogers ( 446369 )
      I don't see any ads on that page, even with uBlock turned off..??
      • I don't even know what to say to you. maybe "open your eyes" :) Maybe you have a hard time differentiating between real content and advertisements?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LesFerg ( 452838 )

      I don't see ads there either. Turned of adblock and refreshed the page. There is a small list of recommended projects on the right.
      Is your browser infected maybe? Do you have third-party toolbars or anything like that?

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