SourceForge#Adware controversy

SourceForge is a web-based source code repository. It acts as a centralized location for free and open-source software projects. It was the first to offer this service for free to open-source projects. Project developers have access to centralized storage and tools for managing projects, though it is best known for providing revision control systems such as CVS, Subversion, Bazaar, Git and Mercurial.{{cite web|url=https://apps.sourceforge.net/trac/sourceforge/wiki |title=Sourceforge.net |website=Apps.SourceForge.net |access-date=April 19, 2012}} Major features (amongst others){{cite web|url=https://apps.sourceforge.net/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Comprehensive%20service%20directory |title=Comprehensive Service Directory |website=Apps.SourceForge.net |access-date=October 19, 2012}} include project wikis, metrics and analysis, access to a MySQL database, and unique sub-domain URLs (in the form http://project-name.sourceforge.net).

The vast number of users at SourceForge.net (over three million as of 2013){{cite web|author=United States|date=October 26, 2011|title=Sourceforge Attracts Almost 40m Visitors Yearly|url=http://siteanalytics.compete.com/sourceforge.net?metric=uv|access-date=April 19, 2012|website=SiteAnalytics.Compete.com|archive-date=December 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208092400/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/sourceforge.net/?metric=uv|url-status=dead}} exposes prominent projects to a variety of developers and can create a positive feedback loop. As a project's activity rises, SourceForge.net's internal ranking system makes it more visible to other developers through SourceForge directory and Enterprise Directory.{{cite web | url = https://sourceforge.net/directory/ |title=SourceForge.net}}{{cite web | url = https://sourceforge.net/directory/enterprise |title=SourceForge.net}} Given that many open-source projects fail due to lack of developer support, exposure to such a large community of developers can continually breathe new life into a project. {{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

SourceForge's traditional revenue model is through advertising banner sales on their site. In 2006, SourceForge Inc. reported quarterly takings of US$6.5 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sourceforge-quarterly-profit-surges-as-revenue-rises|title=Sourceforge quarterly profit surges as revenue rises|access-date=August 13, 2013|date=May 24, 2007|website=MarketWatch.com|quote=Software Corp., late Thursday reported third-quarter net earnings of $6.49 million, or 9 cents a share, up from $997,000, or 2 cents a share, during the year-ago period. Pro forma earnings from continuing operations were $2.1 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with $1.2 million, or 2 cents a share, last year. The Fremont, Calif.-based maker of computer servers and storage systems said revenue for the three months ended April 30 rose to $10.3 million from $7.9 million. Analysts, on average, had forecast a per-share profit of 2 cents on revenue of $12 million.|first=Katherine |last=Hunt}} In 2009, SourceForge reported a gross quarterly income of US$23 million through media and e-commerce streams.{{cite web| url=http://ir.corp.sourceforge.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=82629&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1260642&highlight=| title=SourceForge Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2009 Financial Results| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603170625/http://ir.corp.sourceforge.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=82629&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1260642&highlight=| archive-date=June 3, 2015}} In 2011, a revenue of US$20 million was reported for the combined value of the SourceForge, slashdot and freecode holdings, prior to SourceForge's acquisition.{{cite web| url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/09/18/dice-holdings-buys-slashdot-sourceforge-from-geeknet/ |title=Dice holdings bytes slashdot|website=Forbes }}

Since 2013, additional revenue generation schemes, such as bundleware models,{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/today-we-offer-devshare-beta-a-sustainable-way-to-fund-open-source-software/|title=Today we offer devshare beta, a sustainable way to fund open source software|date=July 2013|access-date=July 6, 2013|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004214316/https://sourceforge.net/blog/today-we-offer-devshare-beta-a-sustainable-way-to-fund-open-source-software/|url-status=dead}} have been trialled, with the goal of increasing SourceForge's revenue. The result has in some cases been the appearance of malware bundled with SourceForge downloads.{{cite news|last1=Schofield|first1=Jack|title=Are there any trustworthy sources for downloading software?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2015/jan/29/are-there-any-trustworthy-sources-for-downloading-software|access-date=May 11, 2015|work=The Guardian|date=January 29, 2015}} On February 9, 2016, SourceForge announced they had eliminated their DevShare program practice of bundling installers with project downloads.{{cite web|url=https://betanews.com/2016/02/11/sourceforge-pledges-to-clean-up-its-downloader-act/|title=SourceForge pledges to clean up its downloader act|work=BetaNews|date=February 11, 2016|access-date=April 30, 2016}}

Negative community reactions to the partnership program led to a review of the program, which was nonetheless opened up to all SourceForge projects on February 7, 2014.{{cite web

| url = https://sourceforge.net/blog/today-we-offer-devshare-beta-a-sustainable-way-to-fund-open-source-software/

| title = Today We Offer DevShare (Beta), A Sustainable Way To Fund Open Source Software

| author = Roberto Galoppini

| date = July 1, 2013

| access-date = July 6, 2013

| archive-date = October 4, 2013

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131004214316/https://sourceforge.net/blog/today-we-offer-devshare-beta-a-sustainable-way-to-fund-open-source-software/

| url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

| url = https://sourceforge.net/blog/devshare-relaunch-power-to-end-users/

| title = DevShare Relaunch: Power to end-users!

| author = Roberto Galoppini

| date = February 7, 2014

}} The program was canceled by new owners BIZX, LLC on February 9, 2016.

On May 17, 2016, they announced that it would scan all projects for malware and display warnings on downloads.{{cite web

| title = SourceForge now scans all projects for malware and displays warnings on downloads

| url = https://sourceforge.net/blog/sourceforge-now-scans-all-projects-for-malware-and-displays-warnings-on-downloads/

| publisher = SourceForge

| date = May 17, 2016

| access-date = October 15, 2016

}}

File:Sourceforge_logo.png

SourceForge, founded in 1999 by VA Software, was the first provider of a centralized location for free and open-source software developers to control and manage software development and offering this service free of charge. The software running the SourceForge site was released as free software in January 2000{{cite web|title=SourceForge Code Release|url=http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=4024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000301031158/http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=4024|archive-date=March 1, 2000|url-status=dead|publisher=VA Software|date=January 14, 2000|quote=It's finally here...The Code behind this site is being released under the terms of the GPL.|access-date=February 11, 2017}}{{cite web|url-status=dead|url=http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010418102945/http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=1|archive-date=April 18, 2001|access-date=February 11, 2017|title=SourceForge - Files}} Early code releases and was later named SourceForge Alexandria.{{cite web|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020302153115/http://sourceforge.net/projects/alexandria-dev/|archive-date=March 2, 2002|access-date=February 11, 2017|url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/alexandria-dev/|title=SourceForge Alexandria}} The last release under a free license was made in November 2001.{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/17822/|website=LWN.net|title=Restarting free SourceForge development|date=December 11, 2002}} After the dot-com bubble, SourceForge was later powered by the proprietary SourceForge Enterprise Edition, a separate product re-written in Java{{cite web|url=http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Apps/sourceforge-forks.html|title=Sourceforge forks|access-date=February 11, 2017|author=Rick Moen|quote=...around 2002, VA Software decided to junk the entire SourceForge codebase ... as the basis for its proprietary SourceForge Enterprise product, and recode the entire thing from scratch in Java...}}{{cite web|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310204135/http://www.vasoftware.com/sourceforge/difs.php|url=http://www.vasoftware.com/sourceforge/difs.php|archive-date=March 10, 2007|access-date=February 11, 2017|title=Differences Between SourceForge.net® and SourceForge® Enterprise Edition|quote= SourceForge.net was built ... using popular web scripting languages including PHP, Perl and Python and many Open Source tools and components. ... By contrast, SourceForge Enterprise Edition was architected and built from the ground up ... [with a] Platform-independent J2EE architecture|author=VA Software|author-link=VA Software}} which was marketed for use in offshore outsourcing.{{cite press release|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031208005258/en/Latest-Product-VA-Software-Governance-Offshore-Outsourcing|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211075748/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031208005258/en/Latest-Product-VA-Software-Governance-Offshore-Outsourcing|archive-date=February 11, 2017|author=Business Wire|author-link=Business Wire|date=December 8, 2003|title=Latest Product from VA Software Provides Better Governance for Offshore Outsourcing|quote=VA Software Corporation (Nasdaq:LNUX), provider of SourceForge Enterprise Edition ... today announced the release of a product designed to address key challenges related to offshore application development. SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.5...}}

SourceForge has been temporarily banned in China three times: in September 2002,{{cite web|url=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2119983/china-asta-la-vista-altavista|title=China Says Asta la Vista to Altavista|website=VNUNet.com|date=September 6, 2002|access-date=December 4, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011203709/http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2119983/china-asta-la-vista-altavista|archive-date=October 11, 2008}} in July 2008 (for about a month)[http://www.moon-blog.com/2008/07/sourceforge-unblocked-in-china.html SourceForge Unblocked in China]. Moonlight Blog. July 24, 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=500647 |title=Gamedev.net |website=GameDev.net |date=April 14, 2012 |access-date=April 19, 2012}} and on August 6, 2012 (for several days).

In November 2008, SourceForge was sued by the French collection society Société civile des Producteurs de Phonogrammes en France (SPPF) for hosting downloads of the file sharing application Shareaza.{{cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-to-sue-vuze-limewire-and-sourceforge-081114/ |title=Record Labels to Sue Vuze, Limewire and SourceForge |website=TorrentFreak.com |access-date=April 19, 2012}}

In 2009, SourceForge announced a new site platform known as Allura, which would be an extensible, open source platform licensed under the Apache License, utilizing components such as Python and MongoDB, and offering REST APIs.{{cite web|title=An Open Forge|url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/an-open-forge/|website=SourceForge|date=March 11, 2011|access-date=February 4, 2016}} In June 2012, the Allura project was donated to the Apache Software Foundation as Apache Allura.{{cite web|last=Proffitt |first=Brian |url=http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/281561/sourceforge-back-end-code-be-donated-apache |title=SourceForge back-end code to be donated to Apache |work=ITworld |date=June 18, 2012 |access-date=October 19, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/SourceForge-submits-Allura-to-Apache-s-Incubator-1620747.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006221325/http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/SourceForge-submits-Allura-to-Apache-s-Incubator-1620747.html |archive-date=October 6, 2013|title=SourceForge submits Allura to Apache's Incubator |website=H-Online.com |date=June 19, 2012 |access-date=October 19, 2012}}

In September 2012, SourceForge, Slashdot, and Freecode were acquired from Geeknet by the online job site Dice.com for $20 million, and incorporated into a subsidiary known as Slashdot Media.{{cite web|url=http://www.dhigroupinc.com/press/Press-Release-Details/2012/Dice-Holdings-Inc-Acquires-Online-Media-Business-from-Geeknet-Inc/|title=DHI Group Inc. - Dice Holdings, Inc. Acquires Online Media Business from Geeknet, Inc.|access-date=April 30, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Dice-Holdings-acquires-Slashdot-and-SourceForge-1711181.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208023450/http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Dice-Holdings-acquires-Slashdot-and-SourceForge-1711181.html |title=Dice Holdings acquires Slashdot and SourceForge|date=September 19, 2012|archive-date=December 8, 2013|access-date=April 30, 2016}} In July 2015, Dice announced that it planned to sell SourceForge and Slashdot,{{cite web

| title = DHI Group plans to sell off Slashdot and SourceForge

| url = https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/07/dhi-group-plans-to-sell-off-slashdot-and-sourceforge/

| website = Ars Technica

| date = July 28, 2015

| access-date = February 4, 2016

}} and, in January 2016, the two sites were sold to the San Diego–based BIZX, LLC for an undisclosed amount.{{cite web

| title = Slashdot Media Acquired by BIZX for Undisclosed Price

| url = https://www.sdbj.com/news/2016/jan/28/slashdot-media-acquired-bizx-undisclosed-price/

| website = San Diego Business Journal

| date = January 28, 2016

| access-date = February 4, 2016

}} In December 2019, BIZX rebranded as Slashdot Media.

On September 26, 2012, it was reported that attackers had compromised a SourceForge mirror, and modified a download of phpMyAdmin to add security exploits.{{cite web|url=http://www.itworld.com/security/298675/compromised-sourceforge-mirror-distributes-backdoored-phpmyadmin-package |title=Compromised SourceForge mirror distributes backdoored phpMyAdmin package | author = Lucian Constantin | date = September 26, 2012 | website= ITWorld.com |access-date= January 23, 2013}}

In July 2013, SourceForge announced that it would provide project owners with an optional feature called DevShare, which places closed-source ad-supported content into the binary installers and gives the project part of the ad revenue.sourceforge:blog/today-we-offer-devshare-beta-a-sustainable-way-to-fund-open-source-software/. Sourceforge.net (July 1, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-09-18. Opinions of this new feature varied; some complained about users not being as aware of what they are getting or being able to trust the downloaded content, whereas others saw it as a reasonably harmless option that keeps individual projects and users in control.{{cite news |author=Nathan Willis |date=August 21, 2013 |title=SourceForge offering "side-loading" installers |url=https://lwn.net/Articles/564250/ |access-date=September 18, 2013 |website=LWN.net}}

In November 2013, GIMP, a free image manipulation program, removed its download from SourceForge, citing misleading download buttons that potentially confuse customers as well as SourceForge's own Windows installer, which bundles potentially unwanted programs with GIMP. In a statement, GIMP called SourceForge a "once useful and trustworthy place to develop and host FLOSS applications" that now faces "a problem with the ads they allow on their sites".{{cite news |last=Sharwood |first=Simon |date=November 8, 2013 |title=GIMP flees SourceForge over dodgy ads and installer |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/gimp_dumps_sourceforge_over_dodgy_ads_and_installer/ |access-date=November 21, 2013 |newspaper=The Register}}{{cite web |date=May 27, 2015 |title=GIMP Project's Official Statement on SourceForge's Actions |url=https://www.gimp.org/news/2015/05/27/gimp-projects-official-statement-on-sourceforges-actions/ |access-date=November 23, 2015 |website=GIMP.org}}{{cite web |date=May 27, 2015 |title=SourceForge, What the...? |url=https://www.gimp.org/news/2015/05/27/sourceforge-what-the/ |access-date=November 23, 2015 |website=GIMP.org}}

In May 2015, SourceForge took control of pages for five projects that had migrated to other hosting sites and replaced the project downloads with adware-laden downloads, including GIMP.{{Cite web |date=May 27, 2015 |title=SourceForge grabs GIMP for Windows' account, wraps installer in bundle-pushing adware [Updated] |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/05/sourceforge-grabs-gimp-for-windows-account-wraps-installer-in-bundle-pushing-adware/ |access-date=May 30, 2015}} This came despite SourceForge's commitment in November 2013 to never bundle adware with project downloads without developers' consent.{{cite web |date=May 27, 2015 |title=GIMP-Win project wasn't hijacked, just abandoned |url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/gimp-win-project-wasnt-hijacked-just-abandoned/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529094757/https://sourceforge.net/blog/gimp-win-project-wasnt-hijacked-just-abandoned/ |archive-date=May 29, 2015 |access-date=April 30, 2016}}{{cite web |date=June 3, 2015 |title=Sourceforge Hijacks the Nmap Sourceforge Account |url=https://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2015/q2/194 |work=Seclists.org}}

On June 1, 2015, SourceForge claimed that they had stopped coupling "third party offers" with unmaintained SourceForge projects.{{cite web |date=June 2015 |title=Third party offers will be presented with Opt-In projects only |url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/third-party-offers-will-be-presented-with-opt-in-projects-only/ |access-date=April 30, 2016}} Since this announcement was made, a number of other developers have reported that their SourceForge projects had been taken over by SourceForge staff accounts (but have not had binaries edited), including nmap{{cite web |author=Sean Gallagher |date=June 4, 2015 |title=Black "mirror": SourceForge has now seized Nmap audit tool project |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/black-mirror-sourceforge-has-now-siezed-nmap-audit-tool-project/ |work=Ars Technica}} and VLC media player.{{cite web |title=What happened to Sourceforge? |url=https://blog.l0cal.com/2015/06/02/what-happened-to-sourceforge/ |access-date=April 30, 2016}}

On June 18, 2015, SourceForge announced that SourceForge-maintained mirrored projects were removed and anticipated the formation of a Community Panel to review their mirroring practices.{{cite web |date=June 18, 2015 |title=Project mirroring policies will be revisited with our Community Panel, existing mirrors removed |url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/project-mirroring-policies-will-be-revisited-with-our-community-panel-existing-mirrors-removed/ |access-date=April 30, 2016}} No such Community Panel ever materialized, but SourceForge discontinued DevShare and the bundling of installers after SourceForge was sold to BizX in early 2016.{{cite web |date=February 12, 2016 |title=New SourceForge owners kill contentious DevShare bloatware program |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/3032490/internet/new-sourceforge-owners-kill-contentious-devshare-bloatware-program.html |work=PCWorld}}{{Cite web |date=February 9, 2016 |title=SourceForge Acquisition and Future Plans |url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/sourceforge-acquisition-and-future-plans/ |access-date=October 15, 2016 |website=SourceForge.net}} On May 17, 2016, SourceForge announced that they were now scanning all projects for malware and displaying warnings on projects detected to have malware.{{Cite web |date=May 17, 2016 |title=SourceForge now scans all projects for malware and displays warnings on downloads |url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/sourceforge-now-scans-all-projects-for-malware-and-displays-warnings-on-downloads/ |access-date=October 15, 2016 |website=SourceForge.net}}

File:SF.net Diagramm.png

{{As of|2013|05}}, the SourceForge repository hosted more than 300,000 projects and had more than 3 million registered users,{{cite web | url=http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/What%20is%20SourceForge.net| title=What is SourceForge.net? | access-date=May 28, 2013}} although not all were active. The domain sourceforge.net attracted at least 33 million visitors by August 2009 according to a Compete.com survey.File:SourceForge.net - Download Forbidden.png, an ITAR-restricted country]]

In its terms of use,{{cite web|url=https://slashdotmedia.com/terms-of-use/ |title=terms of use |publisher=Slashdot Media |access-date=July 28, 2013}} SourceForge states that its services are not available to users in countries on the sanction list of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria). Since 2008 the secure server used for making contributions to the site has blocked access from those countries. In January 2010, the site had blocked all access from those countries, including downloads. Any IP address that appeared to belong to one of those countries could not use the site.{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/clarifying-sourceforgenets-denial-of-site-access-for-certain-persons-in-accordance-with-us-law/ |title=Sourceforge blog clarification for denial of access |website=SourceForge.net |date=January 25, 2010 |access-date=April 19, 2012}} By the following month, SourceForge relaxed the restrictions so that individual projects could indicate whether or not SourceForge should block their software from download to those countries.{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/some-good-news-sourceforge-removes-blanket-blocking/ |title=Some good news: SourceForge removes blanket blocking |website=SourceForge.net |date=February 8, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2014}} This, however, had been reversed by November 2020 for North Korea and other countries.{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/p/forge/site-support/21449/|title=Downloads in North Korea and other countries|website=SourceForge.net |access-date=April 13, 2021}} Crimea has been blocked since February 1, 2015.{{cite web|url=http://geektimes.ru/post/245442/|title=SourceForge заблокировал скачивание файлов для крымских ip-адресов|date=February 6, 2015 }}{{cite web |url=http://alushta24.org/blog/SourceForge_zablokiroval_skachivanie_faylov_dlya_kryimskih_ip-adresov |title=SourceForge заблокировал скачивание файлов для крымских ip-адресов }}{{cite web |url=https://tjournal.ru/2618-sourceforge-net-zablokirovan-na-territorii-kryma |title=SourceForge.net заблокирован на территории Крыма }}{{better source needed|date=February 2015}}

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