Wikipedia
SourceForge is a Web-based service that offers software developers a centralized online location to control and manage free and open-source software projects. It provides various consistent and mostly optional features, including a source code repository, bug tracking, mirroring of downloads for load balancing, a wiki for documentation, developer and user mailing lists, user-support forums, user-written reviews and ratings, a news bulletin micro-blog for publishing project updates, and others.
SourceForge was one of the first to offer this service for free to open source projects—but many users and project have now migrated to GitHub, other software hosting facilities, or self-host their software. In May 2015, SourceForge took control of pages for 5 projects that had migrated to other hosting sites and replaced the project downloads with adware-laden downloads. Community concerns have triggered a prompt review of SourceForge mirroring program and third-party bundling of mirrored content was discontinued May 27, 2015.
the SourceForge repository claimed to host more than 430,000 projects and had more than 3.7 million registered users. The domain sourceforge.net attracted at least 33 million visitors by August 2009 according to a Compete.com survey.
Since 2012 the website runs on Apache Allura software. SourceForge offers free access to hosting and tools for developers of free / open-source software, competing with other providers such as GitHub, Bitbucket, RubyForge, Tigris.org, BountySource, Launchpad, BerliOS, JavaForge, GNU Savannah, and GitLab.
On July 1, 2013, SourceForge began a beta test of a program they call DevShare, which offers projects a way to monetize their downloads by having an optional download that includes prompts for the user to download additional software that is not part of the project. Due to community reactions to the partnership program, it was revisited a few months later, but the program was ultimately opened up to all SourceForge projects on February 7, 2014. The program was cancelled by new owners BizX in February 2016.
SourceForge is a brand name that may refer to:
- SourceForge (SF.net), a source code repository and centralized location for software developers to control and manage open source software development, using a fork of SourceForge Enterprise Edition
- SourceForge Enterprise Edition, a collaborative revision control and software development management system
- SourceForge, Inc., the former name of Geeknet, which owns SourceForge and formerly developed SourceForge Enterprise Edition
- SourceForge.JP, a Japanese site similar to SF.net, and spun off to a separate company in 2007