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SourceForge takes over GIMP for Windows’ account to peddle adware

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app103:
SourceForge, the code repository site owned by Slashdot Media, has apparently seized control of the account hosting GIMP for Windows on the service, according to e-mails and discussions amongst members of the GIMP community—locking out GIMP's lead Windows developer. And now anyone downloading the Windows version of the open source image editing tool from SourceForge gets the software wrapped in an installer replete with advertisements.

Update: In a blog post issued shortly after this story posted, an unidentified member of SourceForge's community team wrote that, in fact, "this project was actually abandoned over 18 months ago, and SourceForge has stepped-in to keep this project current." That runs counter to claims by members of the GIMP development community.

The GIMP project is not officially distributed through SourceForge—approved releases are only posted on the GIMP project's own Web page. But Jernej Simončič, the developer who has been responsible for building Windows versions of GIMP for some time, has maintained an account on SourceForge to act as a distribution mirror. That is, he had until today, when he discovered he was locked out of the Gimp-Win account, and the project's ownership "byline" had been changed to "sf-editor1"—a SourceForge staff account. Additionally, the site now provided Gimp in an executable installer that has in-installer advertising enabled. Ars tested the downloader and found that it offered during the installation to bundle Norton anti-virus and myPCBackup.com remote backup services with GIMP—before downloading the installer authored by Simončič (his name still appears on the installer's splash screen).
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http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/05/sourceforge-grabs-gimp-for-windows-account-wraps-installer-in-bundle-pushing-adware/

TaoPhoenix:

That's disturbing! Because it's "not about Gimp", it's about any account whatsoever being locked out in this manner. Last I knew, Sourceforge had a decent reputation, but this could really damage it if it proves not to be a 1-time thing!

wraith808:
Sourceforge has been going downhill for a while now.  That's the reason that Gimp guy stopped using them for his primary downloads.  This is just the latest iteration in their silliness.  No one should view SF as a reputable free software site anymore.

TaoPhoenix:

That's a pity.

Meanwhile, in the middle of some other discussion thread, an Anonymous Coward over on Slashdot posted that these projects also got affected by similar things:

"Other projects recently hijacked by SF include many Apache projects (Allura, Derby, Directory Studio, the Apache HTTP server, Hadoop, OpenOffice, Solr, and Subversion); Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and FireFTP; Evolution and Open-Xchange; Drupal and WordPress; Eclipse, Aptana, Komodo, MonoDevelop, and NetBeans; VLC, Audacious, Banshee.fm, Helix, and Tomahawk media players; and many others."

Dropped there as an Info-Blob - I'm not all that interested in a detailed rundown. Just if this is the thing they are doing, via your note, it's an FYI level item to me.

app103:
"Other projects recently hijacked by SF include many Apache projects (Allura, Derby, Directory Studio, the Apache HTTP server, Hadoop, OpenOffice, Solr, and Subversion); Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and FireFTP; Evolution and Open-Xchange; Drupal and WordPress; Eclipse, Aptana, Komodo, MonoDevelop, and NetBeans; VLC, Audacious, Banshee.fm, Helix, and Tomahawk media players; and many others."
-TaoPhoenix (May 28, 2015, 03:39 PM)
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Those are mentioned in the article, too, along with "and a host of games, utilities, and other applications."

No one should view SF as a reputable free software site anymore.
-wraith808 (May 28, 2015, 01:33 PM)
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Well, I certainly won't.

When I said it was easy to make money giving away other people's free stuff, this wasn't quite what I had in mind, and violates one of the main rules for doing so: Don't do it in such a way that it pisses off the creators of the stuff you are giving away.

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