
Why does SourceForge still exist? - guidoism
Why are there still projects hosted there instead of GitHub or the other free sites that aren&#x27;t ad-filled and slow?
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jj1909
Pro tip: If you log in to SourceForge you'll never see ads. The main reason I
use SourceForge is because it's better for distributing software to non-coder
end users. It's set up like an app store with user reviews, and is much easier
to navigate than github if you are not a developer, and are just looking for
software to download. It's also not owned by Microsoft, and the new owners
have been making really good strides. SourceForge also gives me more robust
project stats like downloads, etc than other repo sites do.

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dmccunney
When was the last time you went to Sourceforge? How do you access it?

It isn't ad filled here. They went through a bad patch when owned by the
previous owner, who was trying to figure out how to monetize it, and made bad
choices in how ads were presented. These days, ads normally get presented
during the period when you are actually downloading something hosted on
Sourceforge. (And I visit using Firefox with uBlock Origin enabled. It works
fine.)

And bear in mind that the practical definition of "free" these days is
"Someone _else_ pays for it." Just who is that someone else and where does the
money come from? Offerings like Sourceforge are expensive to operate and
maintain, with full time salaried employees doing it. The money in their
paychecks comes from _somewhere_. The usual source of the money is
advertising.

Yes, GitHub is still free, but GitHub is now owned by Microsoft, and there are
folks who object to that. (I am not one of them.)

Would you be willing to _pay_ for a "no ads" version of Sourceforge or similar
service?

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a3n
I access it when i search for restructured text docs. It's usually what shows
up first, and I just want to figure out this one thing.

