Why SourceForge Lost
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Why SourceForge Lost
1–10 of 52 posts
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#2Sourceforge was always hard for me to use, the standard template (code, forums, issues, mailing lists, wikis) were hard to set up (my experience) and use.
GitHub's UI really made impact on me, and the short name, the agenda from the people (I've seen couple of videos from the founders talking about not github, but GIT itself).
I still get very lost using git (p4 user at work, so svn feels closer) but with enough help from github I can see it done.
But all in all github is personal first.
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#3Here's another take on this - programmers hate ads and SourceForge is riddled with them. GitHub isn't.
Also, if I want to setup a repo and put it on GitHub, it's stupidly, ridiculously easy. SF isn't hard, but it isn't as easy.
Open source software is about PROGRAMMERS collaborating. GitHub makes that incredibly easy and straightforward. Want to join a project? Fork the code and tweak til your hearts content. Your code shows up in the network and other people can find/clone/fork/hack til their hearts are content. Want to contribute to a SF project? Um... contact the dev and hope the project isn't dead?
SF is designed to be a kind of Download.com for FOSS. For that it's fine, but GitHub is designed for developers to share code.
Also, GitHub is great because it also does private code hosting, so if I'm working on my own stuff or FOSS stuff, I can use GitHub for both. That is incredibly convenient.
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#4I like Github a lot, and SourceForge has definitely dropped the ball, but is anyone else tired of linkbait article titles? SourceForge has a ton of projects still. They didn't "lose" anymore than Github "won". Competition is trip not a destination. Nothing is for sure, and there's no reason why SourceForge can't improve their service and take back more of the market.
Us in the tech world need to stop thinking that something needs to "win" and "lose". It has fueled way to many (idiotic) religious wars about editors, compilers, and other technologies. Solve problems. Make the world a better place. And quit trying to find "losers".
/rant
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#5Sourceforge was always hard for me to use, the standard template (code, forums, issues, mailing lists, wikis) were hard to set up (my experience) and use. GitHub's UI really made impact on me, and the short name, the agenda from the people (I've seen couple of videos from the founders talking about not github, but GIT itself). I still get very lost using git (p4 user at work, so svn feels closer) but with enough help…
GitHub UI is significantly better. It just works.
Visiting SourceForge feels like going to RapidShare, with all sorts of ads vying for your attention. Each project has numerous sections which may or may not have been filled out by the owner. Heaven forbid that they used the mailing list feature.
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#6> Firstly, it’s not because GitHub’s front-end is nicer
Nope, I'm pretty sure that's the reason.
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#7The key is that GitHub understands open source. People who write open source aren't magical. We still need food and that means a j-o-b. You can have your public open source code and your private proprietary code right next to each other, in the same place. How brilliant is that?
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#8> Firstly, it’s not because GitHub’s front-end is nicer Nope, I'm pretty sure that's the reason.
My mind got snagged on that, too, and it wouldn't let go. The rest of his arguments are not wrong, but I think they fit under that umbrella. That is, it's because GitHub's front-end is nicer, and it's front-end is nicer because SourceForge is oriented around projects and GitHub is oriented around code. The change in focus enables a better presentation.
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#9> Firstly, it’s not because GitHub’s front-end is nicer Nope, I'm pretty sure that's the reason.
My mind got snagged on that, too, and it wouldn't let go. The rest of his arguments are not wrong, but I think they fit under that umbrella. That is, it's because GitHub's front-end is nicer, and it's front-end is nicer because SourceForge is oriented around projects and GitHub is oriented around code. The change in focus enables a better presentation.
I agree, it's not the only reason (being able to fork anyone's code, fix the bug, re-release and ask them to pull is a godsend), but I always dreaded visiting SourceForge.
Re: Why SourceForge Lost
#10When I created a SF project some years ago, it required approval from some mysterious and unknown administrator. That process took a week, and during that time I didn't have access to the resources I needed (version control, mailing list, issue tracker, etc.) to get my project off the ground.
Things may have changed since, but I wouldn't know because I never came back.