Code hosting site SourceForge.net is moving into the future with new features and support for modern version control systems. These changes could make SourceForge a real contender again.

Although SourceForge was once the dominant collaboration service for open source software, its relevance declined sharply over the past few years as it stagnated and lost ground to emerging competitors. The trend towards distributed version control systems (DVCS) looked like it would be the final nail in the coffin, but now SourceForge is preparing to make a major comeback.

The Web service has gained support for Git, Mercurial, and Bazaar, the three most popular distributed version control systems. This brings the site's total number of supported source code management technologies to five, including its existing support for CVS and Subversion.

DVCS is a major technical advancement in the area of source code management. The approach offers developers an unprecedented level of power and flexibility. The three major DVCS systems have all been used to build robust project management and code hosting services—such as GitHub, Launchpad, and BitBucket—which are rapidly displacing SourceForge. Here at Ars, our Web ninjas use GitHub extensively for managing the source code that powers our website. I personally use Launchpad for several of my own projects.

In addition to delivering support for modern version control systems, SourceForge has also introduced a new hosted Web app service. This allows users to run popular open source Web applications, such as MediaWiki, phpBB, Laconica, Mantis, and Trac on SourceForge's infrastructure. The services can be instantiated with the click of a button.

This new feature is significant because it gives users the ability to take advantage of the individual project management and collaboration tools of their choice without having to deal with the cost or challenges of self-hosting. SourceForge currently supports 15 Web applications, but additional options will be added over time.

I spoke with Ross Turk, the community director for SourceForge. He says that the new version control options and hosted Web application service represent the emergence of a new philosophy at SourceForge. Instead of working entirely on providing a single preintegrated solution, they are moving towards a model where users have more choice and the ability to use the best-of-breed third-party tools that work best for the needs of each individual project.

He sees enormous potential in this approach and believes that there are a lot of really compelling things that can be done with the hosted application model. The current focus has been on getting these services to market, but he says that we can expect to see more innovation in the future.

The hosted application feature, he says, was implemented in only six months. The version control feature took less time than that. What brought on these long-overdue improvements after years of languishing in stagnation? Turk says that the recent acceleration of SourceForge development can be partly attributed to new leadership and the vision of SourceForge's new CEO, Scott Kaufman, who joined the company in December.

Under Kaufman's leadership, the company has made several other significant changes to other SourceForge Inc websites, including the decision to turn the Linux.com news site over to the Linux Foundation so that it can be used by the community.

According to Turk, alternative services like Launchpad and GitHub should not be viewed as SourceForge competitors. He believes that the scope of their services is fundamentally different and that they have different goals. Indeed, the hosted Web services component of SourceForge's platform is a very different kind of offering and one that strongly differentiates SourceForge from alternatives. He also points to SourceForge's global network of mirrors as one of several unique features that allows SourceForge to deliver more value to end-users.

Turk says that the big challenge ahead is going to be finding ways to provide more "meaning" around the data that is hosted by the site. This could mean improving the manner in which it is conveyed to end-users and making it more accessible in a variety of ways. The new choice-driven philosophy and faster rate of development are promising signs that SourceForge has what it takes to regain its relevance and be a leader in hosted project management.