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.)?"

Comments

Sneaker Net

[LiquidCoooled]

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.

A Linux box and a cable modem

[corbettw]

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.

Re:A Linux box and a cable modem

[martinultima]

I second the notion to just host it yourself on a Linux box, and use BitTorrent to handle stuff. I was in the exact same situation as you once with my own distro, Ultima – and look where it got me. I've had over 8000 downloads now, all running off 384k uplink, a 700MHz Duron, and endless BitTorrent seeding :-)

Couple tips if you're going to be creating a Linux distro:

Tell DistroWatch.com and get yourself famous. That's more or less how I got well-known. I'm not sure if they do the Windows-based distros, but it's worth a shot.

Know the good BitTorrent sites such as mininova, one of my own favorites, and The Linux Mirror Project. There's a ton of people on those sites who will download stuff just because it's there, and trust me, if you want instant fame that can be a very good thing.

If you need FTP, may I humbly suggest telling MadTux.org about your project. I myself heard of them when they e-mailed an offer to host my project for FTP download, and they're very, very friendly people. They do have a fee for downloaders, but to get your distro's ISO's or whatever hosted with them is free. (Tell them that I sent you, they'll know what to do ;-)

May be a few other things I've forgotten, but those are the big ones. Good luck!

Standard Sourceforge Policy

[AKAImBatman]

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.)

Re:Standard Sourceforge Policy

[AKAImBatman]

Sourceforge only contains the scripts to reconfigure BSD. There's no non-unique software packages hosted there. All the downloads for the ISOs and packages occur through other sites. Go check their file downloads if you're still not sure. There's only about 5 megs of data.

Linux?

[mnmn]

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.

names

[Arctic Fox]

andWhyIsItNamedThat?

No, sourceforge is closed source

[Anonymous Coward]

VA closed the code years ago. But there is a fork from the original author at gforge.

Re:No, sourceforge is closed source

[Otter]

What are you saying, that the original author chose to let VA close their version, and kept working on a Free fork too? I haven't actually checked to see what really happened, but that just doesn't make sense.

The SourceForge code was written by VA, for SourceForge. The GForge guy may be the "original author" in the sense that he literally wrote it, but he isn't the copyright holder.

For real entertainment, try digging up Eric Raymond's statement about the closing of the SourceForge code, where he furiously spins it as a glorious victory for open-source.

Berlios

[Spy der Mann]

They got SVN, and compared to sourceforge, they're relatively fast.

No need to worry

[stinerman]

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.

Go take a look at...

[c0l0]

http://www.berlios.de/

...which brings up another good point:

[mrchaotica]

Surely his 500MB of data isn't all unique. Why doesn't he just host the diffs, and provide links to the base software that's hosted elsewhere? Heck, he could even write a script that would automatically retrieve and assemble it!

Incidentally, I was also going to suggest he put it on Savannah, until I read this:

This web site (called Savannah) is a central point for development, distribution and maintenance of Free Software that runs on free operating systems.

Too bad he decided to help perpetuate non-Free software, eh?

Gna!

[knipknap]

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.

Re:Gna!

[Anonymous Coward]

What a tragic name.

Are you a programmer?
Are you need in need of web hosting?
If you answered "yes" to both of these questions, then GNA! might be exactly what you're looking for!

well

[russint]

You could always beg on slashdot.

Re:well

[ZachPruckowski]

Yeah, asking for Sourceforge alternatives on /. is like asking about Mac OS X on winsupersite or something.

something else to try

[thepotoo]

There are sites out there that can provide you with bandwith. Sort of, that is. What I might do is host the webpage itself on your home computer, then link to one of the following for the actual distro.

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.

Re:your own hosting?

[MikeFM]

I just went ahead and checked the prices at 1&1, which I use, you can get a beginner account with PHP, 5GB space, and 250GB monthly transfer for US$3 a month. Pretty affordable and probably enough to get you started or double that for $5 a month or quadruple it for $10 a month. Even an evil code monkey from an alternate dimension should be able to cough that up.

Dreamhost

[anthropolemic]

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.

Re:your own hosting?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude. If you must post a referral link *twice*, you should at least have the decency to mark it as such. Referral whoring is dishonest.

Re:your own hosting?

[MikeFM]

Why? Slashdot marks what company the link goes to. I've been telling people to go with 1&1 long before they had any sort of affiliate program. I'd be a retard not to use the referral link when telling people to go to it wouldn't I? Okay people - if you want to sign up for 1&1 but don't want to give any credit, which costs you nothing, back to the guy that suggested it then type the URL into your browser bar by hand and ignore anything that comes after the domain name.

Regardless, they still have the best servers I've yet tried although I do have a non-1&1 server I'm working on setting up with a different company (which I won't provide a link to since it bothers you so much) because 1&1 doesn't offer servers with 1TB of drive space. If you're curious it costs about $250 a month for a dedicated server with 1TB of drive space. If you care the company I'm setting this server up with is, like 1&1, one of the biggest hosting companies in the world and the system is a custom job that is available only if you email them and ask if they can support bigger drives than they advertise. 600GB drives can be damn useful when put back to back with RAID.