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SourceForge drifting

μια οχι ευχάριστη εξέλιξη για το sourceForge, επίσης μια πρόταση
http://fsfeurope.org/news/article2001-10-20-01.en.html

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      <blockquote>
	<center><h2>SourceForge drifting</h2></center>

	<p>
	  Over the past few months the <a href="http://www.sourceforge.net/";>SourceForge</a>
	  development facility, which hosts a large number of <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html";>Free
	  Software</a> projects, has changed its policies. Features
	  for exporting a project from SourceForge have been
	  removed. The implementation used to be exclusively Free
	  Software but is now <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:WxA5jbBHLMQ:sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php%3Fdocid%3D6267%26group_id%3D1+larry+augustin+site:sourceforge.net&amp;hl=en";>based
	  on non-free software</a>. Finally, VA Linux[<a href="#valinux">1</a>] has become rather underhand in their
	  attempts to grasp exclusive control of contributors' work.
	</p>

	<p>
	  SourceForge did a lot of good for the Free Software community,
	  but it's now time to break free.
	</p>

	<center><h3>Locking users in a non-free software world</h3></center>

	<p>
	  SourceForge brought to Free Software a unified and standard
	  development methodology based on modern tools. Before
	  SourceForge, such tools (bug tracking, cvs, web, support,
	  forums, polls, news, etc.) were available individually, but
	  few developers used many of them together, because they had
	  to set up the combined facilities on their own. SourceForge
	  made the combination conveniently available for both new and
	  experienced developers.
	</p>

	<p>
	  Because of the convenience of SourceForge, many Free
	  Software developers have come to take this collection
	  of features for granted, and would be reluctant to go
	  back to the old way of doing things.  Unfortunately,
	  this means that when SourceForge itself takes a turn
	  for the worse, it tends to pull Free Software developers	
	  down with it.
	</p>

	<p>
	  The second important thing SourceForge did was to provide
	  this environment based exclusively on <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html";>Free
	  Software</a>. By doing this, SourceForge not only provided a
	  powerful methodology for the Free Software community, it
	  also demonstrated what Free Software could do, and promoted
	  the use of Free Software.  And since the special software
	  for SourceForge was itself free, anyone could set up a
	  similar site.  The SourceForge software became permanently
	  available to developers everywhere.  Developers in (say)
	  India who can't afford the bandwidth to use the SourceForge
	  site could have the benefit of the same features on their
	  own server.
	</p>

	<p>
	  In August 2001, VA Linux reversed those policies and
	  introduced non-free software on the SourceForge server. In
	  <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:WxA5jbBHLMQ:sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php%3Fdocid%3D6267%26group_id%3D1+larry+augustin+site:sourceforge.net&amp;hl=en";> announcing this</a> (the original document was removed or moved shortly after the publication of this article), Larry Augustin (VA Linux CEO) claims
	  that SourceForge.net users will <i>"see virtually no
	  changes"</i>. That may be true if they narrow their vision
	  and consider only what job the site does and how to operate
	  it.  But when we consider the
	  implications, things are very different now.  Instead of a
	  showcase for Free Software, SourceForge is now a demo site
	  for non-free software.  There is a danger that the many
	  thousands of people registered on SourceForge will become
	  increasingly hooked on the SourceForge site and on features
	  implemented by proprietary software.
	</p>

	<p>
	  As a Free Software developer, you are still free to use the
	  SourceForge server, but you won't have the freedom to copy,
	  modify, study and distribute the software it runs; you won't
	  be free to set up a similar site yourself, or adapt it to
	  your own needs.  The <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/alexandria/";> last
	  published release</a> of the SourceForge software is one
	  year old.
	</p>

	<p>
	  The move to non-free software was the culmination of a
	  series of steps designed to lock users in. There never was a
	  way to fully extract projects from SourceForge, but efforts
	  were made in this direction--then this year they were
	  removed. At present the only things you can get are the <a href="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/";>CVS tree</a>
	  and tracker data <i>/export/sf_tracker_export.php</i>.  Few
	  people are aware of the later because it is undocumented.
	  The <a href="http://www.sourceforge.net/export/";>export
	  page</a> explains how to use scripts that don't exist
	  anymore; implementation of facilities to ease project
	  extraction was stopped.  The developer community is
	  exclusively made of VA Linux employees and a few people who
	  are asked not to disclose the current code.
	</p>

	<p>
	  The <a href="http://www.geocrawler.com/about/";>mailing lists
	  archives</a>, a major service of SourceForge recently became
	  <i>unmaintained</i>. Will it be replaced by a non-free
	  software based solution ?
	</p>

	<center><h3>Contributors' work appropriation</h3></center>

	<p>
	  Here is what happened to me shortly before the announcement
	  that SourceForge would use and develop non-free software.
	  Because I'm listed as a contributor (in the <a href="http://chris.from.lu/SF2.5/AUTHORS";>sources</a> and <a href="http://sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php?docid=751&amp;group_id=1";>documentation</a>)
	  to the SourceForge software, I received a request from VA
	  Linux to assign copyright to them.  I was not surprised or
	  unhappy with this; many Free Software projects ask
	  contributors to assign copyright of their changes to the
	  main author. Assigning copyright to a single holder is a
	  strategy for defending the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html";>GNU GPL</a> more
	  effectively, and I would have been happy to cooperate in
	  that regard.
	</p>

	<p>
	  But when I read the details of their copyright assignment, I
	  saw major problems. I was asked to assign copyright of
	  my work that "<i>is, or may in the future be, utilized in the
	  SourceForge collaborative software development
	  platform</i>". The assignment was not limited to my
	  contribution to the SourceForge code, it potentially covered
	  all my past and future work if it was of some interest to
	  SourceForge.
	</p>

	<p>
	  I was also expecting a promise that my work would be
	  released under the GNU GPL, but the assignment said nothing
	  about Free Software. VA Linux would be allowed to release
	  the software I wrote under a non-free software license and
	  not let the community have it at all.  But I wasn't sure at
	  the time if this was a real concern, because VA Linux only
	  produced and used Free Software. Two weeks later they
	  decided to introduce non-free software on SourceForge
	  and that cast a different light on the question.
	</p>

	<p>
	  VA Linux told me that they only sent the assignment to two
	  people, in the hope to refine it. We started a long
	  discussion that lasted two months.  I assumed this
	  discussion was to make the copyright assignment more
	  palatable to the Free Software community, so I worked hard
	  to give constructive feedback. Finally I was sent the
	  version of the copyright assignment produced by the legal
	  department. I quote it here in its entirety:
	</p>

	<blockquote>
	  SourceForge Copyright Assignment
	  <p>
	    <i>Thank you for your interest in contributing software code
	    to SourceForge.</i>
	  </p>
	  <p>
	    <i>In order for us to include the code in our product, we will
	    need you to provide us with the rights to the code.</i>
	  </p>
	  <p>
	    <i>By signing this agreement, you, the undersigned, hereby
	    assign to VA Linux all right, title and interest in and to
	    the software code described below, and all copyright,
	    patent, proprietary information, trade secret, and other
	    intellectual property rights therein. You also agree to take
	    all actions and sign all documents (such as copyright
	    assignments or registrations) reasonably requested by VA
	    Linux to evidence and record the above assignments.</i>
	  </p>
	</blockquote>

	<p>
	  This was even more of a power grab than the first draft.  "<i>You
	  give us total control; we promise nothing</i>".  At this point,
	  I knew that the attempts to clarify the copyright assignment
	  were a waste of time; VA Linux clearly wasn't collecting
	  copyright assignments in order to enforce the GNU GPL.
	</p>

	<center><h3>Escape entrapment</h3></center>

	<p>
	  It's time for people who value freedom to escape from
	  SourceForge. It has become a tar pit from which escape will
          become increasingly difficult. Development hosting platforms
	  based completely on Free Software flourish all over the
	  world.  You can create your own, join an existing one or
	  help write the underlying software. Some months ago I helped
	  to launch <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/";>Savannah</a> for
	  the GNU project because I felt the need of a collaboratively
	  run platform. With friends and co-developpers we are now
	  re-writing and packaging <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/docs/savannah-plan.html";>distributed
	  development hosting</a> software. The idea is to be able to
	  install and operate a SourceForge-like site within hours.
	  Savannah will run this software at the end of this year.  At
	  first it may have less functionality than SourceForge, but
	  it has a bright future because it is rooted in a cooperative
	  effort of people sharing Free Software.
	</p>

	<p>
	  SourceForge is free as in free beer because it was designed
	  this way. It was a very expensive and ephemeral gift to the
	  Free Software community. We could resent VA Linux for such a
	  poisoned gift. On the contrary I think we should thank
	  them. They brought us methodology, and taught us that a
	  development hosting facility must be built in a distributed
	  and collaborative way, not by a single company controlling
	  everything from top to bottom. Of course that means everyone
	  needs to spend a little time developing and maintaining these
	  hosting facilities. We've finished our beer, it's time to win
	  our freedom.
	</p>

	<p>
	  <i><a href="mailto:loic [ at ] gnu [ dot ] org">Loïc Dachary</a></i>
	</p>

	<p>
	  [<a name="valinux">1</a>] <a href="http://www.valinux.com/";>VA Linux</a> is the owner of
	  the <a href="http://www.sourceforge.net/";>SourceForge</a>
	  domain name, provides and owns the hardware, pays for
	  the bandwidth, hire people maintaining SourceForge. VA Linux
	  is also the owner of most <a href="http://www.osdn.com/";>OSDN</a> sites, the largest
	  concentration of Free Software related resources in the
	  hands of a single company.
	</p>

      </blockquote>
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    Updated:
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     2002/02/07 16:50:11  by jneves 
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