SW Distribution

[OldGuy]

If I write a piece of software that I think would be useful for others
and want to give it away, what is the best way to do this?
I do not want my own webpage or anything else I would need to
"maintain" for that. The only maintenance is to update a version or
add a new application where I would copy or FTP to some place.

 

[Mayayana]

I think you can get a page on sourceforge.net if it's OSS,
but that also means taking charge of development. I don't
know exactly how open-source it needs to be.

There used to be some sites that would host your software,
but most software download sites just pretend to host it. They
want to link to your download. The few that do host generally
have requirements. For instance, you can submit to CNet.com,
but last I knew they required people to pay them, though I
don't remember now whether one had to pay to become a member
or whether it was more like, "Good luck getting your software
reviewed if you don't buy ads from us." Similarly with Tucows.
They at least used to host files, but it got to the point that there
was little chance of getting anything accepted without buying
some services from them. Essentially those sites went from being
software review sites to being something like paid Yellow Pages
listings that masquerade as review sites.

I originally had my software hosted by simtel.net. They would
host most software for free. I can't seem to find them now. They
may have closed down.

I don't know of any simple, no-strings solution, but you can
look around. Personally I'd suggest that you at least set up
a simple website to host your stuff and provide a contact
point. I wouldn't download and use anything that's just sitting
on some freeware site with no homepage in existence. (I generally
only download from the program homepage, anyway. Freeware
sites often have links to old copies and don't typically have
complete information about the things they list.))



| If I write a piece of software that I think would be useful for others
| and want to give it away, what is the best way to do this?
| I do not want my own webpage or anything else I would need to
| "maintain" for that. The only maintenance is to update a version or
| add a new application where I would copy or FTP to some place.
|
|

 

[John D]

If I write a piece of software that I think would be useful for others
and want to give it away, what is the best way to do this?
I do not want my own webpage or anything else I would need to
"maintain" for that. The only maintenance is to update a version or
add a new application where I would copy or FTP to some place.

One way of doing this is to upload it on OneDrive or Google Drive and
provide links to whoever wants it. You can also upload it on Dropbox
and provide links on newsgroups or forums but without spamming any of
them. Then there are file uploads sites which you can choose from this
list:

<http://filesharefreak.com/2009/08/26/100-of-the-best-free-file-hosting-upload-sites>

Frankly, you can have a free website on Google and provide links on it
or open a facebook or Blogspot or Wordpress free site and use them to
advertise your wares.

 

[VanguardLH]

Mayayana wrote on 2014/06/08:

OldGuy wrote ...


I think you can get a page on sourceforge.net if it's OSS,
but that also means taking charge of development. I don't
know exactly how open-source it needs to be.

For Sourceforge, I'd start reading here:

http://sourceforge.net/p/forge/documentation/Docs Home/

The following page talks about registering a new project there:

http://sourceforge.net/p/forge/documentation/Create a New Project/

Since this is a repository for FOSS (free and open-source software), you
have to include the source code so it downloadable from there. The
source repository can't be just gibberish. It has to be usable code in
recognizable structures so someone ELSE could compile it with whatever
changes they want in the product. Slashdot (aka Sourceforge) becomes an
automatic licensee of your product you host with them, but then anyone
that gets your source code can do whatever they want with it (within the
limits of the OSI-approved license you attach to your project). Since
your code is available to public scrutiny, it can be readily determined
if it was written by a neophyte or amateur. For example, even if you
figure that you test on all possible values of a variable, a 'try' or
'select' that doesn't catch on unexpected values means the product isn't
amateurish and has other boundary problems or lacks graceful recovery.
Even lack of comments can render the product unmaintainable.

Sourceforge is not a dumping ground where you discard your code and then
abandon the project. If you want to make public your code but discard
all responsibility for it then throw it up on a publicly accessible
online file storage service, or even in the disk space your ISP gives
you for your personal web pages (but the disk space can be used just for
files). Before considering starting a project at Sourceforge, read
their TOS (http://slashdotmedia.com/terms-of-use/). If your intent is
to dump your code there and abandon it then be aware that you may
eventually lose ownership of that project. See the APT page at
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Abandoned Project Takeovers.
The new owner can do anything they want, including deletion of the
account.

Make sure all the code is yours. If you employ libraries or code from
other sources then you have to make sure they are also FOSS or you have
permission to redistribute them. Because someone else is webhosting
your project for free, they can terminate your account or the entire
repository service whenever they want. "The Company reserves the right
in its sole discretion to terminate the use of the Site by a user at any
time." So make sure anything you store there is mirrored elsewhere in
case you have to move your project to another webhoster.

There used to be some sites that would host your software,
but most software download sites just pretend to host it.

Not the ones that I trust, like Softpedia or download.com; however,
there is a submission process before they will host a copy of your
product.

http://www.softpedia.com/user/submit.shtml
https://upload.cnet.com/

They host the program, not the source code. When, for example, you find
CCleaner and download it from their server (and not a link back to the
author's site, if there is one), you do not get the source code unless
the download was, say, a .zip file with both the compiled executable
along with the hierarchical structure of folders and files for the
project). Your product will be reviewed, like looking for malware.

For instance, you can submit to CNet.com,
but last I knew they required people to pay them

I didn't find anything at https://upload.cnet.com/2706-21_5-973-1.html
that says it costs you to upload to them and have them host your program
while they handle the bandwidth for all the downloads. They do appear
to have a Premium program where you get faster turnaround time on your
submission and get more support so that probably costs something. I
don't see that Basic members have to pay anything for their submissions.

If you want your product to show at the top of their search lists (in
the sponsored section) then, yes, you have to pay for those extra
privileges to promote your product over all the others.

Similarly with Tucows.

Yeah, same there. If you want your product promoted to the top of the
list then you pay for the premium category service to get your product
listed before others. If you don't want to pay, you show up with all
the other products that didn't pay for special handling. Same for
online search engines that have the sponsored listing (ad-sponsored)
show at the top of their search results. You're paying to get promoted
before the products of others. If you're waiting in line and want to
get inside right away then bring a wad of dollar bills with you and
bribe each person in turn to let you ahead of them in the line. If you
want special treatment then you pay for it.

They can take up to 90 days before your submission gets into and passes
their review process. They have an expedited listing service and, yep,
that'll cost you extra.

 

[VanguardLH]

John D wrote on 2014/06/08:

One way of doing this is to upload it on OneDrive or Google Drive ...

After you mentioned Google, I remembered that they provide a project
repository like Sourceforge. Go look at:

https://code.google.com/p/support/wiki/GettingStarted

 

[Mayayana]

| They can take up to 90 days before your submission gets into and passes
| their review process. They have an expedited listing service and, yep,
| that'll cost you extra.

I haven't dealt with CNet or Tucows for years.
I stopped when they started with the "optional"
payment stuff. The last time I submitted to Tucows
was in 2002. I didn't pay for any extras. They downloaded
the program installer. One minute later they looked
at the program webpage. 25 seconds later they looked
at my home page. It was a total of 3 minutes and 10
seconds between the time they downloaded my installer
and the time I received a rejection email, *complete with
detailed ratings in various categories* by the "reviewer".
After that I decided to no longer submit anything to sites
that take any kind of payments.

Those companies had been making a living during
the PC craze with banner ads, then as things died
down they started trying to come up with new ways
to get income directly from software authors. But it
was a sticky situation. They were still trying to present
themselves as neutral reviewers. Software authors
provided their content, but they wanted to get authors
to also provide their income. They couldn't be expected
to be honest about their listings in that scenario.

the ones that I trust, like Softpedia or download.com

Last time I dealt with CNet (which is the same as
download.com) was many years ago when they had a
program of mine listed. I'd never joined their club once
they started trying to get authors to pay, so nothing
of mine should have been listed. But a listing claiming to
be my software was there, coming from a link in Russia.
I don't know what was at that link. I wrote to CNet and
they ignored me.

So.... I wouldn't trust any of them, least of all
download.com, as either a host or a source. People who
want to download software should go to the author's
site. If the software listing site tries to hide that URL
then one should find it elsewhere. People who want a
hosting location can just set up a website of their own
and Google will find it.
Listing sites were much more important before Google
because they were the only way to find software at that
time. These days I do a search if I'm looking for something.

Maybe things have changed. I haven't had any recent
experiences with hosting download sites. But I wouldn't
recommend them to anyone based on my past experience.

The most dependable, honest, well-run site I know of
these days is MajorGeeks, but I don't think they accept
submissions, and I'm pretty sure they don't host files. But
even in the rare cases when I might download via MajorGeeks,
it's only because I've found the software via search.

 

[micky]

I think you can get a page on sourceforge.net if it's OSS,
but that also means taking charge of development. I don't
know exactly how open-source it needs to be.

There used to be some sites that would host your software,
but most software download sites just pretend to host it. They
want to link to your download. The few that do host generally
have requirements. For instance, you can submit to CNet.com,
but last I knew they required people to pay them, though I
don't remember now whether one had to pay to become a member
or whether it was more like, "Good luck getting your software
reviewed if you don't buy ads from us." Similarly with Tucows.

I'd forgotten about Tucows. It's got to be 5 or 10 years since I dl'd
from them.

They at least used to host files, but it got to the point that there
was little chance of getting anything accepted without buying
some services from them. Essentially those sites went from being
software review sites to being something like paid Yellow Pages
listings that masquerade as review sites.

I always did wonder how long they woudl do such nice work for free.

I originally had my software hosted by simtel.net. They would
host most software for free. I can't seem to find them now. They
may have closed down.

I don't know of any simple, no-strings solution, but you can
look around. Personally I'd suggest that you at least set up
a simple website to host your stuff and provide a contact
point. I wouldn't download and use anything that's just sitting
on some freeware site with no homepage in existence. (I generally
only download from the program homepage, anyway. Freeware
sites often have links to old copies and don't typically have
complete information about the things they list.))

Plus it's so hard to find the download button for the program and not
for some registry cleaner or something. And other things that make me
afraid.

 

[Mayayana]

| Plus it's so hard to find the download button for the program and not
| for some registry cleaner or something. And other things that make me
| afraid.
|

I've noticed that too. It's got much worse than it
used to be. Many sites try to hide the source of the
file and want people to use their custom installer stub
or wrapper program, which means letting that site have
access to your computer. I'm guessing they do that in
order to trick you into installing junk toolbars, but I
would never use one of those installer stubs, so I don't
actually know what sort of horrors lurk there.

 

[Paul]

| Plus it's so hard to find the download button for the program and not
| for some registry cleaner or something. And other things that make me
| afraid.
|

I've noticed that too. It's got much worse than it
used to be. Many sites try to hide the source of the
file and want people to use their custom installer stub
or wrapper program, which means letting that site have
access to your computer. I'm guessing they do that in
order to trick you into installing junk toolbars, but I
would never use one of those installer stubs, so I don't
actually know what sort of horrors lurk there.

In the simplest of cases, you open the file with 7ZIP
(after scanning on Virustotal), and you find a folder
called $PLUGINS. Then you open that waste basket,
and toss it in. In other cases, they go to more effort
to cover their tracks. For example, a good stub will
just go to the Internet, and download additional cruft.
No pesky $PLUGINS to give it away.

I had something attack the machine the other day, that
managed to use up all the buffers in my router, and
cause the router log to overflow. Fun times... It
must be fun being a script kiddie, or working in a
malware factory.

Paul

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

If I write a piece of software that I think would be useful for others
and want to give it away, what is the best way to do this?
I do not want my own webpage or anything else I would need to
"maintain" for that. The only maintenance is to update a version or
add a new application where I would copy or FTP to some place.

How big is it, and what is it?

If it's reasonably small, post it on a binary newsgroup. (Even if it
isn't - I've seen _huge_ files, posted in hundreds of parts - that way,
but if you want it to be easy for people to download, that's
problematical.) Otherwise, as someone else said, upload it to dropbox or
similar.