SourceForge Eliminates DevShare Program (sourceforge.net)

SourceForge has officially eliminated its DevShare program. The DevShare program delivered installer bundles as part of the download for participating projects. We want to restore our reputation as a trusted home for open source software, and this was a clear first step towards that. We are more interested in doing the right thing than making extra short-term profit. This is just the first step in a number of improvements we will outline in the coming weeks. SourceForge and Slashdot were acquired in late January by BIZX.

Comments

Too late

[JazzXP]

The majority of the good open source apps have moved to GitHub over this, and user trust in the site is dead. I know myself and a number of people I know don't go there anymore, hell, uBlock even blocks it by default.

Re:Too late

[EmeraldBot]

Yeah and we are focused on fixing all the issues that have caused projects to move.

And that's the good part, the alternative is that it just permanently stays the way it was. If Whiplash (and friends) are willing to work to make it better, I'm willing to keep an open mind about it, and you should too.

Re:Too late

[MightyMartian]

At least you folks are answering questions. I'll take a wait and see, buff SourceForge was once great, and it would be nice to see regain at least some ground.

Re:Too late

[H_Fisher]

Well said.

On a related note, I've noticed that, for the most part, the quality and amount of interesting news has gone up since the new regime took over. Keep it up, Whipslash et al. So far, so good.

Re:Too late

[r.freeman]

Indeed, fuck github's SJW and censorship - but - no problem it's git. Just push to 3 other servers and run own one.

PGP sign git commits, or at least the tags with published binaries and all security issues are fixed too.

Re:Too late

[ShaunC]

I, for one, welcome^W am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Whatever motives BIZX has, you at least seem to be accepting and acting upon feedback. I find GitHub's politicizing to be rather irksome, so it would be nice to see SF rise from its ashes and provide another alternative.

Re:Too late

[NotInHere]

A bit unrelated: I was just browsing your website (the one in your signature), and was noting that I couldn't watch the embedded youtube video (talking about this video). They are included as html object element and require flash to be played (which I don't have). Its better to support HTML5 as well by using a more modern embedding code via iframes. It will still offer a fallback for users who can't play back html5 videos, e.g. on outdated browsers. You can get the embed code by clicking "share" and then "embed".

Re:Then pay up

[whipslash]

Do you understand we just bought the site last week? We didn't see a dime from the DevShare program since we weren't the owners. The first thing we did when we purchased the site is remove the program.

Re:Haha, NOPE.

[whipslash]

We just purchased the site a week ago. I think your anger is misdirected.

Now if you would just bring Fresh Meat back

[Crashmarik]

Never understood why it was killed. It was a great way to find out about new and interesting projects/ideas.

i do like a clean gravesite...

[Pseudonymous Powers]

Nobody else has said so, so let me say: Thanks for trying to fix things, New Management. I appreciate efforts like these. Keep it up.

The others are probably right about it being too late to make much difference, of course. Broken trust is a mother. And none of us are really sure how reputable the new bosses are, of course. But I feel it's important to recognize and encourage any steps in the right direction. So thanks again.

Re:i do like a clean gravesite...

[whipslash]

Haha thanks. Been a long time reader of /. , but I figured I'd wait till I owned it to start posting ;)

Re:Haha, NOPE.

[whipslash]

Our overarching philosophy for SourceForge is that it needs to be a trusted destination free of any sort of malicious adware or deceptive advertising. We are committed to achieving this. Eliminating DevShare was the first step. Establishing SourceForge as a trusted open source destination is our main goal.

Re:Also eliminated grammar

[alvinrod]

Holy crap, an editor that fixed an error in TFS!

That's bigger news than the article itself.

Re:Sorry Assholes

[whipslash]

Cool. Well we just eliminated bundled installers so look at it however you please

Re: Haha, NOPE.

[whipslash]

35 million monthly unique users say otherwise.

Re:Sorry Assholes

[NickHydroxide]

Slashdot has turned into an incredibly angry, toxic environment over the past 5 years (which is pretty visible in this thread and, IMO, part of the reason why the site was/is suffering), so I dug up my old account and logged in just to give you some positive feedback. It looks like your heads and hearts are in the right place and it would be great to see Slashdot restored to its former glory. SourceForge could definitely become a major competitor to GitHub (for one, I think GH is too expensive) so that's one avenue to go down.

I'm already returning to Slashdot more regularly and it's only been a week since you took the reins - so keep it up.

Re:Sorry Assholes

[narcc]

This is Slashdot, home of the perpetually dissatisfied user. If Microsoft, Mozilla, Sony, or whoever simultaneously ended world hunger, cured cancer, and gave you shiny red balloon, they'd bitch about the color.