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Alternatives to SourceForge for Larger Projects?
DavonZ asks: "I have recently requested hosting from SourceForge for andLinux, a Windows based Linux distribution. Since andLinux is essentially an operating system, it is quite large (500MB for the first release), and SourceForge rejected the hosting request due to its size. Since andLinux will allow handheld development environments to be 'plugged in', hosting it could require gigs of space. I have looked into alternative distribution methods like ed2k and Bittorrent, but the FUD associated with such distribution methods can slow adaption of the project. I have also considered purchasing hosting, but that is costly, would require donations and the project is not yet presentable for even beta release...at least not yet. What alternatives to SourceForge are available for large projects like this that include the
'bells and whistles' that SourceForge has (CVS, forums, mailing lists, bug tracking, etc.)?"
Best and simplest is a good old CD rom :)
Of course, you could just offer ftp access from your home account to seed the initial project.
Torrents aren't that bad, and if the project is noteworthy then people will seed for you.
liqbase
You're probably going to have to host it yourself, at least until it's far enough long to find someone willing to donate space/bandwidth. You'll have to install some forum software yourself, like phpBB, of course. Isn't the software SF runs itself Open Source? If so, why not download that and put it to work?
The upshot of hosting it yourself is, you can set up a Google AdSense or Overture account and try to get some revenue coming in to help defray development costs.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
If you read the rules, you'll find that Sourceforge doesn't allow Linux distributions. (Or operating systems for that matter.) According to their site, the specific issue isn't the size, but rather the amount of redundant data each OS creates. Sourceforge would much rather host the individual projects for the OS and let other sites host the distributions. That way they don't end up carrying three hundred plus copies of GLIBC. (All incompatible with each other.)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I feel uneasy when projects out there include the word 'Linux' in their names. Linus for that purpose did something like trademark (dont know what exactly) recently to protect the trademark. This is important since someone could come up with a minor BSD-based project and call it GNU\Linux or Linux System or something like that. I hope you've kept that in mind.
As far as larger projects go, knoppix initially had great demand but the servers slow. Demand itself allowed the torrents to prosper and people could access the earlier knoppix CDs. Their servers seem faster now.
Host it on any given low bandwidth site, or better yet host all files somewhere online but put the downloadable ISOs on your home machine and elsewhere and allow the torrents to do their work. If theres demand it'll work beautifully. If theres no demand.. well.. you never needed the bandwidth in the first place.
PS I dont know of OSS hosting solutions other than sf.net.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
andWhyIsItNamedThat?
VA closed the code years ago. But there is a fork from the original author at gforge.
They got SVN, and compared to sourceforge, they're relatively fast.
The FUD created about BitTorrent and ed2k is just that. Anyone who even knows about Linux and/or alternative operating systems isn't going to shun your distro because its only available via P2P protocols. BitTorrent was designed with the exact situation you have in mind. Use it for its intended purpose.
http://www.berlios.de/
:%s/Open Source/Free Software/g
YTARY!
Incidentally, I was also going to suggest he put it on Savannah, until I read this:Too bad he decided to help perpetuate non-Free software, eh?
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I can very much recommend Gna!. They are fast, they are secure, the site is well maintained and the developers are very responsive. You have choice between SVN, CVS and Arch, backups exist, you can host files and a homepage, ...
I host more 10 projects there since when Gna! first appeared two years ago.
The "SourceForge" components are open source (as well as other project-based alternatives such as Drupal+mods, Joomla+mods), and I believe the requirements for these components fall under the usual LAMP stack, which means your only hosting issue would be monthly data transfer rates (everyone and their dog's pet gerbil provide some sort of PHP/MySQL combination that would be adequate for your needs). For under 50 bucks a month, you can get anywhere from 100-300 GB transfer a month -- if you're getting anywhere near that in popularity (200-600 downloads per month), you might be able to find a sponsor in your area (i.e. a local ISP/network services provider) for the price of including some advertisement on your site for said sponsor. If that doesn't work, then you're adding several hundred potential BitTorrent seeders per month which might offset some of the demand. I've used http://www.opensourcehost.com/ before with good results.
body massage!
You could always beg on slashdot.
^^
I was going to suggest berlios.de (see my sig), but then I realized that their official limit is 100 MB. But also when using their service I noted that their staff is very friendly, they provide SVN, and there are not that many projects as on sf.net. Concluding you may try berlios, just write an email in which you exactly explain your purposes, and why your project is so great, then maybe they will give you those 500 MB (and there are few projects hosted which are that big - like an .iso image download). Maybe if you give them a bigger donation, they will be even more willing to help? (there is a donation system, so that you can help berlios running).
The drawback however is that their servers suffer some downtime, like 12 hours per month. It happened to me few times that I had to wait till next day, before I could commit.
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
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Really you can get your own hosting with lots of bandwidth pretty cheap. No reason not to have your own server. I have a dedicated server for about $50/month. You can get a hosted account for under $15/month that has all the space and bandwidth you'd probably need.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
http://www.rapidshare.de/ --> 100mb max size, limited downloads/hour, but it might work if you rar the distro.
http://www.megaupload.com/ --> real slow, 250mb max size
http://www.filefront.com/ --> not sure if they allow non-game related stuff, send 'em an email. Their speeds are slow but not bad (80-100k), and they would let you host the distro in one chunk, rather than needing rar files.
Couple more I haven't tried:
http://www.uploadport.com/ --> Heard it had mixed speeds, and limits files to 100mb
http://www.megashares.com/ --> Have heard good things about it. Pretty fast, and will allow 1.5 gig files.
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
It looks like you have two options, get a dedicated server from someone like EV1 Servers for $99/month or setup your own box on your broadband connection (assuming you have broadband). I use EV1 and I would recommend them if you want a dedicated server and are willing to do your own system administration.
As far as software I'd recommend Subversion for source countrol, Bugzilla for bug tracking, and MediaWiki for general documentation. I'm in the process of setting this up for my own projects right now.
Bradley Holt
Ketchup based mustard.
Joke.
"Made up/misattributed quote that makes me look smart. I am on
I get 10 megabyte a sec downloads from Heanet mirrors no trouble.
http://linuxtracker.org/ will put it on their BT server for you, if a member submits it.
Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
Dreamhost is offering Subversion now on their hosting plans. I haven't tried it out yet but they've been excellent with hosting my Web sites.
Anyone who even knows about Linux and/or alternative operating systems isn't going to shun your distro because its only available via P2P protocols.
Except people who live on campus at a university behind its stateful firewall, where BitTorrent, eDonkey2000, and eMule Kad Network protocols are often blocked or (if you're lucky) throttled to dial-up speeds.
My geek humor took the week off...
Why is this funny?
TIA
--Phillip
Can you say BIRTH TAX
PlanetMirror is good in Australia and Asia, not sure about the US though.
They would charge about $10 month if I'm reading the charts right.
"Trac is an enhanced wiki and issue tracking system for software development projects.
Trac uses a minimalistic approach to web-based software project management. Our mission; to help developers write great software while staying out of the way. Trac should impose as little as possible on a team's established development process and policies.
All aspects of Trac have been designed with one single goal, to simplify tracking and communication of software issues, enhancements and monitoring overall progress."
http://www.edgewall.com/trac/
Proxy?
Located where? Wouldn't you have to rent an account on a server somewhere if your parents don't have a reliable always-on PC at home? Doesn't such an account cost $100 per year? At that price, if you just want to do two or three legit torrents, it might be better to ask someone to burn a CD and mail it to you.
I have absolutely no problem accessing slashdot from my remote corner of europe.. i guess about as good as it could possibly get to the pacific.
It may or may not be a direct solution to the original poster's problem, but rpath linux is designed to let different distribution forks exist without duplicating the parts which are in common. For example, Foresight Linux is a distribution which has bleeding edge GNOME, but they can share the non-GNOME parts of the distribution with regular rpath linux. Despite the corporate looking web page, most of this stuff is open source.
if your project does not infringe any copyrights and patents, then I can let you host it on my VPS (where I run Wikinerds.org) for a while, until you find a suitable full hosting account. Send me email if I can help you with this.
The notion that torrents or magnet uris are somehow declasse is perverse.
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
I wouldn't call 1&1 "little". In fact, they're part of Germany's biggest conglomerate of internet firms, aptly named "United Internet", which also own outfits like GMX and web.de
Or metalab. Or sunsite, if you remember those names and haven't kept up with the changes. (I liked the metalab name best of the three...)
Anyway, these guys have been around and hosting things like this for at least 10 years. Talk to them. You may need to host bug tracking and forums at a different site, but they can definitely handle a distro-sized download. Ask them about the stuff you want; I think they'll consider making pretty much any open tool available for you.
.sig: file not found
I should mention our project, which is a modern, user friendly SourceForge clone that is fairly easy to install and requires little maintenance. It's open source and based on the open source Sitellite CMS framework and it's called SiteForge.
Here is its homepage, which is running the SiteForge software: http://www.sitelliteforge.com/siteforge
putfwd.com - 1GB Free file storage with a twist
Nearly all the content on the front page of one of the recommended BitTorrent sites, mininova, is warez.
Is it any wonder that there is FUD associated with distribution by BitTorrent? BTW, I love the protocol, and I realise that the protocol itself is amoral, and HTTP and FTP also have a capability for the dark side.
By all means use BT to distribute your product, but post it on a reputable site such as http://tlm-project.org/
Don't click on the link, it's a goatse troll
Do you need to look for alternate hosting? I am also about to release a morphix based live cd of my project. I plan to use SF to host it. Morphix uses SF for hosting of ISOS. I don't know why you can't. Here is my setup: I use my own host for my project website (http://www.thewybles.com/~charles/oser) and SF for bugs/e-mail/source control etc. I use my own host so I can have raw level access to the server logs which SF doesn't give you. But everything else uses SF. They have taken all the hard work out of project management.
Charles Wyble System Engineer
http://www.communitycolo.net/
Just send an application and a computer. There are multiple location sites around the US. You maintain the server software yourself if you're up to the task. Considering you claim to be writing an operating system I would hope you are capable.