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from the this-is-not-the-host-you-are-looking-for... dept.
Google, or someone using their hosting service, noted that SourceForge had established a mirror to the official GIMP-for-Windows site and were now offering downloads which contained adware:
It appears that +SourceForge took over the control of the 'GIMP for Windows' account and is now distributing an ads-enabled installer of GIMP. They also locked out original owner of the account, Jernej Simončič, who has been building the Windows versions of GIMP for our project for years.
So far they haven't replied to provide explanations. Therefore, we remind you again that GIMP only provides builds for Windows via its official Downloads page.
SourceForge's mirrored sites facility is described thus:
The Open Source Mirror Directory is an extension to our existing software directory, where we'll be mirroring projects that are not hosted on SourceForge, and SourceForge projects that have been abandoned.
The problem, though, is that GIMP-for-Windows is not an abandoned project, but moved from SourceForge to Google because the writers "had concerns about the presence of misleading third-party ads on SourceForge".
SourceForge has responded, acknowledging that Gimp-Win had abandoned SourceForge due to misleading ads and claim "They were not alone in those concerns — we were also concerned — leading us to establish a program to enable users and developers to help us remove misleading and confusing ads." They also admit "Mirrored projects are sometimes used to deliver easy-to-decline third-party offers..." which suggests that they have merely changed the way that they deliver their ads - but not necessarily the ad's content. So, some might say, they've rectified the situation by providing both misleading ads and misleading hosting.
SourceForge also say "Since our change to mirror GIMP-Win, we have received no requests by the original author to resume use of this project. We welcome further discussion about how SourceForge can best serve the GIMP-Win author." Perhaps letting the writer choose where he hosts his project would be a good place to start.
Sourceforge hijacks GIMP For Windows project, adds malware to downloads
SourceForge (SF) has taken over control of the GIMP for Windows SF project and is now distributing an adware/malwared installer for GIMP. They also locked out the maintainer, Jernej Simončiči. Sourceforge claims it was "abandoned" and they're providing a service by "mirroring" the original, though it's unclear how much value malware adds for the end user, rather than for SF. (This comes two years after SF claiming its malware was just "misunderstood".)
Since being busted, SF is now serving an .exe that matches that at the official download site.
Other projects recently hijacked by SF include many Apache projects (Allura, Derby, Directory Studio, the Apache HTTP server, Hadoop, OpenOffice, Solr, and Subversion); Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and FireFTP; Evolution and Open-Xchange; Drupal and WordPress; Eclipse, Aptana, Komodo, MonoDevelop, and NetBeans; VLC, Audacious, Banshee.fm, Helix, and Tomahawk media players; and many others.
[Editor's Comment: First Submission and 2nd Submission. Submissions significantly edited before publication]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @04:06PM
What are the alternatives to SourceForge?
Fuck you Dice for shitting on everything that is good.
(Score: 1) by BananaPhone on Thursday May 28 2015, @04:19PM
wasn't /. bought by Dice, too?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @04:56PM
So you say it's time for SoylentSource?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @05:27PM
was thinking the same thing, although they have more than enough work to do here.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NCommander on Thursday May 28 2015, @06:01PM
We actually had this. I was against using github back at go live so the initial development of our branch of slashcode was on a copy of GForge which is a fork of the original VA Linux Sourcefrge.net. our github mirror became more popular than the gforge instance so I retired it a month after golive.
If there was demand, a soylentcode site could be launched, though given the sheer amount of code hosting sites I'm not sure there is a lot of point ...
Still always moving
(Score: 1) by magamo on Thursday May 28 2015, @07:00PM
How about doing projects reporting/news site, ala freshmeat.net/freecode, since that is now defunct, and nothing quite like it, or as good as it has yet to appear. That may be a worthwhile thing.
(Score: 2) by NCommander on Thursday May 28 2015, @08:00PM
We could do this once we deploy rehash and have proper nexus support if volunteers are willing to make submissions.
Still always moving
(Score: 2) by bryan on Thursday May 28 2015, @08:34PM
A few alternatives [ibiblio.org] popped up after the FreeCode demise. https://freshcode.club/ [freshcode.club] seems to be one of the more popular upstarts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @08:22AM
Chaosesque Anthology uses freshcode
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday May 28 2015, @07:36PM
What is wrong with Github?
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by NCommander on Thursday May 28 2015, @07:57PM
I'm not the biggest fan of third party hosting services; I've been screwed over before. GitHub however makes a lot of got tasks stupidly easy and is more user friendly than GForge or just a git repo hosted on one of our servers
Still always moving
(Score: 2) by bryan on Thursday May 28 2015, @08:56PM
An alternative to relying on GitHub's service is to install GitLab Community Edition [gitlab.com] on your own server. The software is very similar to what GitHub is offering.
Gitorious [wikipedia.org] (previously hosting a few large repositories such as QT) merged with GitLab [gitlab.com] a few months ago.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday May 29 2015, @03:43AM
Ahh yeah, this makes sense. I've been using BitBucket at work, which is mostly just a crashier slower GitHub. Though it is cheaper for small companies and great if you already have a Jira lifecycle.
But yeah, if you are doing hosting, you might as well just run Git or a suite depending on what you really need.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday May 29 2015, @12:44PM
I wouldn't bother with code hosting. Keep this site focused on news and discussion.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday June 18 2015, @02:50AM
The point is that Soylent has built trust.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Nerdfest on Thursday May 28 2015, @04:34PM
GitHub, BitBucket.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday May 28 2015, @04:49PM
I second github. It doesn't have all the features that SF had but it is plenty good enough.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by blackhawk on Friday May 29 2015, @08:09AM
I second Bitbucket just for giving you as many free private repos as you want. It gives you a chance to kick off a project without it being subject to public scrutiny, then open it up when it suits your timetable.
Call me a heathen user of filthy Windows and unspeakable GUIs, but I also like to use Sourcetree for my day to day work.
(Score: 2, Informative) by ghost on Thursday May 28 2015, @05:45PM
(Score: 1) by TestablePredictions on Thursday May 28 2015, @09:55PM
What are the alternatives to SourceForge?
Whatever they are, I wish they would be decentralized somehow. Companies or organizations can be pressured by shareholders to monetize the site, or pressured by spooks, or pressured by political activists, etc... It hardly happens that often, but I'm just so sick of it happening at all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @07:14AM
There is no alternative for large projects.