[Coco] sourceforge insurance

Barry Nelson barry.nelson at amobiledevice.com
Wed Jun 17 03:29:57 EDT 2015


Then it may be too late. Things have already "changed". Sourceforge included malware/adware with both the Gimp and Filezilla downloads. 

If you don't think that applies to us then this is what I have to say to you:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

I suggest updating the license to prohibit bundling with other software that does not meet one or more of the fallowing conditions:
1) Bundled software must disclose and make available it's source code, this would effectively stop Sourceforge from bundling the software with a closed source malware installer.
2) Bundled software must give the option to not be installed, and if installed, must have a readily available function to completely remove and disable it.
3) Bundling software which displays unsolicited advertising is prohibited.

If the downloads are moved from Sourceforge or not maybe a moot point, as it was pointed out, github or the other hosting providers could start doing the same thing at any later point, and once they have a copy of the code, they can do anything with it that the license allows. Even if they don't have a copy, they could decide to host a copy and modify it with their own installer, infected with all kinds of adware and malware as long as the license allows it. I am going to bring this concern to Richard Stallman also, to see if he want to add a clause to the GNU license.

On Jun 17, 2015, at 12:56 AM, coco-request at maltedmedia.com wrote:

> Finally, if things change and we have to take action, we'll do it then.
> 
> Regards,
> Tormod



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