SourceForge.net introduced a new service this week. Until now, if you wanted to distribute your software on SourceForge’s global network, you needed to set up a complete project, which for project leaders who preferred to develop elsewhere meant generating services for collaborative software development that they didn’t need. Now you can develop your software anywhere you like, but just distribute it via SourceForge, and get the benefit of our free, global distribution network, along with the visibility of being listed on the leading open source software directory.
The new SourceForge Downloads distribution service sports a new file manager that’s simpler to use than the one current site users are familiar with – but which they can now use. It shows only one folder at a time, so page loads are faster, especially for large projects.
SourceForge Downloads also offers new reporting tools to provide key statistics on a project’s performance. You can see download counts, geolocation of your downloaders, and their operating systems, among other information, and you can specify the time frame for the reporting. All SourceForge.net users can access the new statistics.
Your software is open source, and our service is free of charge. So why do we do it? We’ve been promoting open source software for more than a decade – this is just another step. The service will pay for itself by displaying a tasteful ad on the download page users see. [Ed. note: While we cannot guarantee that all site users will find all site ads tasteful, we can at least promise not to employ depictions of bodily fluids or make fun of people with handicaps.]
If SourceForge hasn’t always met your expectations, now is the time to check us out again. SourceForge Downloads is free, easy, and informative – what’s not to like!