SourceForge again tries to impose adware on open source projects.
Yesterday, the developers of the popular graphic editor GIMP published an official statement in connection with the hosting policy of SourceForge to embed adware programs into third-party software.
Previously, such a function was available to project administrators themselves, they could embed adware into their own program. But a few days ago, SourceForge took over accounts of GIMP and some other projects - and arbitrarily added adware-downloaders.
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As can be seen in the screenshot of May 26 from the Gimp-developer mailing list, the link to download gimp-win leads to some 730 KB downloader.
GIMP developers say they recognize the value of SourceForge for hosting free software. He has been working since 1999, when Github was not yet available. For many years, the Windows installer of a graphical editor was distributed through SourceForge.
They "with pain" observed the first introduction of a large green "Download" button, which led to the installation of advertising. An alternative option for downloading an installer without adware is shown in the screenshot as a "Direct Download" link under the button (for example, FileZilla).
A few days after the problem became known, on May 28, SourceForge backed down and returned everything, remembering a promise never to do this without the permission of the developers. But still, the constant attempts of SourceForge to increase the monetization of programs hosted on the hosting are alarming.
Due to the appearance of these adware-installers and the general degradation of the GIMP service in 2013, I decided to leave SourceForge and not post my Windows installers there.
Constantly violating the trust of users, it is impossible to conduct work and build a business, especially in such competitive conditions as hosting code. It is possible that in the future the problem will arise again and SourceForge will break the promise.
SourceForge's policy is the same as for file-washing, like Download.com. This is especially disappointing because SourceForge has always focused on open source, and some OSS projects are hosted there. On the other hand, many people left or never went there, but at the same time stay on the mirror of the SourceForge OSS projects. These include VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird, Drupal, WordPress, Eclipse, Net Beans and Subversion.
In the new environment, GIMP developers demand even more from SourceForge. The company should give everyone the opportunity to completely remove their project from the site and remove its URL, not allowing anyone to continue to take it. Remove it from your mirror. And provide a permanent HTTP redirect (301) to any other address, at the discretion of the developer.
Previously, such a function was available to project administrators themselves, they could embed adware into their own program. But a few days ago, SourceForge took over accounts of GIMP and some other projects - and arbitrarily added adware-downloaders.
')
As can be seen in the screenshot of May 26 from the Gimp-developer mailing list, the link to download gimp-win leads to some 730 KB downloader.
GIMP developers say they recognize the value of SourceForge for hosting free software. He has been working since 1999, when Github was not yet available. For many years, the Windows installer of a graphical editor was distributed through SourceForge.
They "with pain" observed the first introduction of a large green "Download" button, which led to the installation of advertising. An alternative option for downloading an installer without adware is shown in the screenshot as a "Direct Download" link under the button (for example, FileZilla).
A few days after the problem became known, on May 28, SourceForge backed down and returned everything, remembering a promise never to do this without the permission of the developers. But still, the constant attempts of SourceForge to increase the monetization of programs hosted on the hosting are alarming.
Due to the appearance of these adware-installers and the general degradation of the GIMP service in 2013, I decided to leave SourceForge and not post my Windows installers there.
Constantly violating the trust of users, it is impossible to conduct work and build a business, especially in such competitive conditions as hosting code. It is possible that in the future the problem will arise again and SourceForge will break the promise.
SourceForge's policy is the same as for file-washing, like Download.com. This is especially disappointing because SourceForge has always focused on open source, and some OSS projects are hosted there. On the other hand, many people left or never went there, but at the same time stay on the mirror of the SourceForge OSS projects. These include VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird, Drupal, WordPress, Eclipse, Net Beans and Subversion.
In the new environment, GIMP developers demand even more from SourceForge. The company should give everyone the opportunity to completely remove their project from the site and remove its URL, not allowing anyone to continue to take it. Remove it from your mirror. And provide a permanent HTTP redirect (301) to any other address, at the discretion of the developer.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/365599/
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