Editing SourceForge (section)

== Installer with adware ==
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.<ref>[[sourceforge:blog/today-we-offer-devshare-beta-a-sustainable-way-to-fund-open-source-software/|Today We Offer DevShare (Beta), A Sustainable Way To Fund Open Source Software | SourceForge Community Blog]]. Sourceforge.net (July 1, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-09-18.</ref> 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.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref>

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 program]]s 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".<ref name="Register: Gimp departs SourceForge">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name="arstechnica.com">{{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}}</ref> This came despite SourceForge's commitment in November 2013 to never bundle adware with project downloads without developers' consent.<ref name="sf-bundle">{{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}}</ref><ref name="nmap-hijack">{{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}}</ref> 

On June 1, 2015, SourceForge claimed that they had stopped coupling "third party offers" with unmaintained SourceForge projects.<ref name="sf-20150601">{{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}}</ref> 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]]<ref name="nmap-hijack" /><ref name="ars-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}}</ref> and [[VLC media player]].<ref name="vlc-sf">{{cite web |title=What happened to Sourceforge? |url=https://blog.l0cal.com/2015/06/02/what-happened-to-sourceforge/ |access-date=April 30, 2016}}</ref>
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.<ref name="sf-20150618">{{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}}</ref> No such Community Panel ever materialized, but SourceForge discontinued DevShare and the bundling of installers after SourceForge was sold to BizX in early 2016.<ref name="auto3">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name="auto3" /> On May 17, 2016, SourceForge announced that they were now scanning all projects for malware and displaying warnings on projects detected to have malware.<ref>{{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}}</ref>