SourceForge Open-Sources Their Platform Software

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SourceForge Open-Sources Their Platform Software

Posted by timothy on Thursday March 10, 2011 @06:53AM from the recursive-open-source dept.

rick446 writes "In late 2009 SourceForge embarked on a plan to 'reboot' our developer tools on an open platform including Python, MongoDB, RabbitMQ, and SOLR. The result was the Allura platform, and was released under the Apache License in February 2011." Note: Slashdot and SourceForge are both part of Geek.net.

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Wait a second.... by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · 2011-03-10 06:54 · Score: 1

You mean it wasn't already?

--

Technoli
1. Re:Wait a second.... by ivucica · 2011-03-10 06:55 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  It used to be. Then they closed it. Then last FLOSS version was forked as GForge and others. I guess they're opening it again.
2. Re:Wait a second.... by Coeurderoy · 2011-03-10 07:28 · Score: 2
  
  Then GForge closed up and was reopenned as fusionforge (http://fusionforge.org)
3. Re:Wait a second.... by larry+bagina · 2011-03-10 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  If they're serious about it, they won't require contributors to sign over the copyright to their code. Given their past actions, I don't trust them. Of course, this looks like a last-ditch effort to remain relevant in the face of github, etc.
  
  --
  Do you even lift?
  These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
4. Re:Wait a second.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 07:54 · Score: 0
  
  GForce...? Nah, i just can't take talking rodents seriously, opensource or not...
5. Re:Wait a second.... by j-pimp · 2011-03-10 08:56 · Score: 1
  
  I really don't mind signing copyright over even at the risk of a project "going closed." If I was making a large contribution to the code, then maybe. However, for small patches to a large project, it seems like a small price to pay.
  
  --
  --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
6. Re:Wait a second.... by markramm · 2011-03-10 09:19 · Score: 1
  
  We are serious, and will be using an apache 2.0 license, and don't have any plans to ask for copyright assignment.
7. Re:Wait a second.... by Aldenissin · 2011-03-10 09:51 · Score: 1
  
  Why does copyright matter, if it is GPL'd?
  
  --
  Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
8. Re:Wait a second.... by Aldenissin · 2011-03-10 09:55 · Score: 1
  
  Nevermind it is Apache, not GPL. I don't know much about that license or why/if that would matter either.
  
  --
  Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
9. Re:Wait a second.... by markramm · 2011-03-10 12:11 · Score: 1
  
  And don't forget that when it "goes closed" the last version is still open -- you can't retroactively remove the open source license permissions for existing code.
10. Re:Wait a second.... by larry+bagina · 2011-03-10 15:32 · Score: 1
  
  If you own the copyright, you can relicense it under a different license. If you contribute code to an FSF project, they will require you to sign over the copyright. That's why they could relicense all their code to GPL3 (that and the GPL v2 or later part... but it's now 3 or later). Of course, they could also change to a non-FREE license if they wanted. They probably wouldn't, but .... MySQL (and later Sun) also required copyright assignment, too. Now Oracle can do anything they want with it.
  For comparison, Linus didn't require copyright assignment (insert $699 SCO fee here), so changing the license would require the approval of every committer.
  
  --
  Do you even lift?
  These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
11. Re:Wait a second.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-11 04:46 · Score: 0
  
  The FSF copyright assignment has a promise that it'll always be under a free license.
Github replaced it... by FunnyLookinHat · 2011-03-10 06:59 · Score: 1

Does anyone even use SF anymore?
1. Re:Github replaced it... by Coeurderoy · 2011-03-10 07:30 · Score: 1
  
  Github replaced iit for some people as a "real forge", but you'll probably find many more mature project on sf..
  So as an "advertisement platforme" SF is certainly a good bet for a team...
  And anyway the announcement make most sense for people who want to host their own forge, they need the software, not SF users..
2. Re:Github replaced it... by ivucica · 2011-03-10 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  GitHub replaced it for those who use Git. I don't, and many other people don't. I use Mercurial and SVN and hence mostly use BitBucket and Google Code. However I contribute(d) to some mature projects on SF.net, so it's pretty much still around in my 'verse. GitHub mostly isn't because it requires use of Git.
3. Re:Github replaced it... by TheRaven64 · 2011-03-10 11:10 · Score: 1
  
  I try occasionally, but they've made the UI so bad that if a project is hosted on Sourceforge I generally look for a downstream source. It manages to make Savannah look good, which is quite impressive. It's even worse than Trac, which out not to be possible. I can't help wondering if by open sourcing it they're saying 'we completely broke it, please will someone else fix it for us?'
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
So... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 06:59 · Score: 1

So not to start a flame war or anything, but why would I choose SourceForge to host my project over GitHub or Project Hosting on Google Code?
1. Re:So... by maxume · 2011-03-10 07:02 · Score: 1
  
  Because of the mailing lists? The ones with the terrible archive interface.
  I think this new platform may even be worse than the old travesty.
  
  --
  Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
2. Re:So... by jemmyw · 2011-03-10 07:22 · Score: 2
  
  You probably wouldn't. SF came first, so when Google Code came out it had to have better features to attract users, and it did. Then GitHub, again had to have better features to attract users, and it did. In my view the main improving feature as you jumped from one to the other was better usability.
3. Re:So... by Short+Circuit · 2011-03-10 07:49 · Score: 2
  
  Used to be you couldn't use a BSD license on Google Code, but that's apparently changed. My only remaining complaint is that there isn't a good way for me to take a project on Google Code (e.g. "dastoob") and assign a domain to it. I've got dastoob.net set up right now to 301 redirect to the relevant Google Code page.
  
  --
  tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
4. Re:So... by larry+bagina · 2011-03-10 07:55 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure 3-clause BSD was one of the original licenses they allowed (My google-hosted projects are all 3-clause BSD).
  
  --
  Do you even lift?
  These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
5. Re:So... by Short+Circuit · 2011-03-10 08:08 · Score: 1
  
  I recall not being able to use BSD for the first project I wanted to set up there. That was quite some time ago, though.
  
  --
  tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
6. Re:So... by DaVince21 · 2011-03-11 10:17 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe you wouldn't. But maybe you would want to contribute to one of the many large (and smaller) open-source projects on SF instead.
  
  --
  I am not devoid of humor.
Advertising? by UbuntuniX · 2011-03-10 07:04 · Score: 1

Was the note about Geeknet really necessary? Anyone here that actually cares will already know.
1. Re:Advertising? by Hatta · 2011-03-10 07:10 · Score: 1
  
  I thought it was still VA Linux.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
2. Re:Advertising? by jimktrains · 2011-03-10 07:12 · Score: 1
  
  Full disclosure? I see it often when a link to a site affiliated to /. in some businessy manner appears.
  
  --
  "You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm." - S. G. Colette
3. Re:Advertising? by maxume · 2011-03-10 07:13 · Score: 2
  
  It's considered good practice to make note of an association like that.
  
  --
  Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
4. Re:Advertising? by LetterRip · 2011-03-10 07:26 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Was the note about Geeknet really necessary? Anyone here that actually cares will already know.
  Yes it is called 'full disclosure' - when reporting about a group you have financial ties to you are supposed to disclose that fact.
5. Re:Advertising? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 10:45 · Score: 0
  
  So are we supposed to believe that regular slashvertisements don't refer to products Slashdot got big money from? They also do a better job than this half assed summary at being shameless plugs.
6. Re:Advertising? by internettoughguy · 2011-03-10 12:33 · Score: 1
  
  So are we supposed to believe that regular slashvertisements don't refer to products Slashdot got big money from?
  Yes. Do have evidence that suggests otherwise?
Can you now mirror SourceForge? by Animats · 2011-03-10 07:04 · Score: 1

Is it possible to mirror SourceForge, retaining all the updates and comments?
For me, this has been eye opening... by bogaboga · 2011-03-10 07:12 · Score: 2

...and here's why.
All along, I thought sites like www.slashdot.org ran on some open source database like PostgreSQL with a front end created by PHP.
As the Allura platform shows, it's much more complex than that. The question is...does it have to be this complex?
What would be the short comings of a PostgreSQL/PHP set-up?
1. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by dkleinsc · 2011-03-10 07:21 · Score: 2
  
  Well, for starters, PHP. *ducks*
  But seriously, the chances are that a lot of the complexity in both site's code bases is that it's doing some very interesting and valuable stuff. Sometimes, when code seems over-complicated, it's for a bad reason like performance or bad design. But a lot of other times, it's to deal with the strange edge cases that were discovered after the code was running, or really useful behind-the-scenes features like appropriately distributed mirroring.
  
  --
  I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
2. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 07:21 · Score: 0
  
  Not everyone likes vanilla.
3. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  If they're using RabbitMQ they must feel they need bulletproof message queueing for heavy loads.
4. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by mini+me · 2011-03-10 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  Which parts are you finding needlessly complex?
  Python and PHP play the same role.
  MongoDB and PostgreSQL play the same role.
  SOLR is for full text searching, which you might also use in your PHP app.
  I have only had a quick look through he code, but it looks like RabbitMQ is used so that mail can be queued and delivered without reliance on the web application. You might consider doing the same in PHP if you have the same requirements.
5. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by mini+me · 2011-03-10 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  Why do you say that? Depending on what you are doing, even low traffic websites sometimes need message queues. RabbitMQ is a nice implementation of that. The fact that it is good at handling higher loads is only an added benefit.
6. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by larry+bagina · 2011-03-10 07:51 · Score: 2
  
  slashdot is perl with mysql (customized, I believe). The code is (or was) available on openslash.org or someplace like that. Don't search for "open gash", though.
  
  --
  Do you even lift?
  These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
7. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by Mr.+DOS · 2011-03-10 13:41 · Score: 1
  
  A weekly-updated Git repository of Slashdot's backend is available under the monicker Slashcode.
8. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by Mr.+DOS · 2011-03-10 13:50 · Score: 1
  
  The problem with a plain vanilla PostgreSQL/PHP is that it doesn't scale well, especially when you're talking about more than just a website. Sure, you can throw more hardware at the problem, but there comes a point where it's more cost-effective to use different backend technology to do the data processing even if you're still using traditional web scripting (Perl, PHP, or even Python or Ruby) for the frontend.
9. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-13 06:17 · Score: 0
  
  ...and here's why.
  All along, I thought sites like www.slashdot.org ran on some open source database like PostgreSQL with a front end created by PHP.
  As the Allura platform shows, it's much more complex than that. The question is...does it have to be this complex?
  What would be the short comings of a PostgreSQL/PHP set-up?
  Maybe you wouldn't. But maybe you would want to contribute to one of the many large (and smaller) open-source projects on SF instead. I just read an article here hotfile
10. Re:For me, this has been eye opening... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-13 11:24 · Score: 0
  
  Due to it being an Erlang/OTP based application, RabbitMQ also benefits from a solid concurrent and exceptional recovery foundation, allowing for almost effortless scaling on the cheap. Considering that there are other message brokers they could've gone with, it's hard to ignore those features as primary influences that led to it being the final choice.
Pure slashvertisement by SimonTheSoundMan · 2011-03-10 07:41 · Score: 3, Insightful

Pure slashvertisement at its best. Really, it is!
1. Re:Pure slashvertisement by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  This is totally news, because Mongo is webscale.
2. Re:Pure slashvertisement by diegocg · 2011-03-10 09:38 · Score: 1
  
  Uh? SF is an important piece of the opensource ecosystem. I find this quite interesting.
3. Re:Pure slashvertisement by Bratmon · 2011-03-10 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  Slashdot and SourceForge are owned by the same company. What did you expect?
4. Re:Pure slashvertisement by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 17:22 · Score: 0
  
  Mongo is only pawn...in game of life...
Nouns used as verbs... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 07:57 · Score: 0

So... "Open source" is a verb now?
1. Re:Nouns used as verbs... by LordVader717 · 2011-03-10 10:05 · Score: 1
  
  Yes. It's called word derivation.
History of OpenSourcing SF.net by markramm · 2011-03-10 08:46 · Score: 5, Informative

I work at SourceForge, and can probably describe a bit of the history.
In 1999 when Sourceforge was released, it was conceived as a gift back to the open source community, and was released as open source software. But with the dot com crash, and the successive transformation of VA linux from a hardware company to a software company (VA Software) the then management decided to try out a proprietary software sales strategy, and created SourceForge Enterprise Edition.
While things were proprietary due to that decision, much of the sf.net internal code became very tied up in the specifics of our infrastructure, and in some cases with code that we weren't able to open up.
All of this happened before I came on with SourceForge, and my experience is of a very different company, that has been continually increasing our commitment to give back to open source, and have released a number of smaller projects. And then a year ago we started this new Python based platform, which was intended from day one to be released under an open source license.
Trust me, we know that previous management actions have burned some bridges, but still feel like our obligation today is to do what's right for the site and the community. And I am convinced that the open source community deserves a truly open forge platform, where they can see the code, influence feature decisions, and even self host if that were to become necessary. And I know the current team is very committed to making that happen.
1. Re:History of OpenSourcing SF.net by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 10:02 · Score: 0
  
  Cool! Kudos to everyone behind the SourceForge.
2. Re:History of OpenSourcing SF.net by sphix42 · 2011-03-10 11:00 · Score: 2
  
  You forgot to mention that when SF decided to close source their application they took the source code as-is and stole all the work open source developers like myself had contributed to the project. I had started contributing heavily just before they took the source and called it theirs with no reimbursement or acknowledgment to developers like me.
  For me SF has no credibility.
3. Re:History of OpenSourcing SF.net by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 12:09 · Score: 0
  
  They didn't "revoke" the old open source stuff, that became Gforge, and is still around in some form today. They did continue to extend it internally and not share those contributions, which I think was the wrong move. But I think that Open Source worked, and they were not allowed to steal anything.
4. Re:History of OpenSourcing SF.net by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 18:05 · Score: 0
  
  Legally they could not take your code and change the copyright license you used. So either you didn't license your changes under the GPL, you didn't pursue protecting your own copyright, or they didn't actually take your code for their closed source edition.
allura by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 08:59 · Score: 1

If your wanting to be busy I say use it to make politicianforge every single one of them and how they voted and on what and every stupid idea they ever had.
So in short us it to track politicians instead of software.
Im to lazy but liked the idea.
1. Re:allura by manicb · 2011-03-10 10:20 · Score: 1
  
  Been done, in the UK at least. Great resource:
  http://www.theyworkforyou.com
PHP is extremely difficult to use by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-10 14:39 · Score: 1

Python is far more sane. And please don't flame me about how easy PHP is if you don't know that '5,000' + '5,000' is 10.
1. Re:PHP is extremely difficult to use by mini+me · 2011-03-10 15:04 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure why you replied to me, I wouldn't touch PHP to build a web application with a ten foot pole for a long list of reasons.
  With that said, why shouldn't '5,000' + '5,000' equal 10? Most PHP functions are thin wrappers around C functions. strtoi() stops when it hits a non-numeric character, thus '5,000' is 5. 5 + 5 is 10. In that case, the result is fairly logical assuming you understand where PHP came from. There are much bigger problems with the language than that.
  By the way, the "." is used for string concatenation in PHP, if that is what you were really trying to do.