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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @05:57PM
I wonder if this OS detection is the reason why I so often can't find the links to Windows versions of software to send to people via internet chat... I often like to send direct links to make sure people get the correct version, but quite often have great difficulty tracking down those links.
I had to click "other versions" under what appeared to be a section titled "GIMP for Unix-like systems" which I didn't expect to contain anything other that more Unix versions. Had I not read your post saying that the link was there, after scanning the page, I would have assumed it wasn't and went straight to the FTP servers looking for it like the GP did.
Pages hiding portions of their content behind javascript is really confusing, and completely unnecessary as it isn't as if space is limited. Correct design such as putting "choose your OS" links at the top of the page would eliminate the need to scroll through the page without hiding anything from anyone. If one really wants to detect the OS, it would be better just to highlight that version and maybe display it first rather than remove all of the links to the other versions.