SourceForge.net: Recommended User Software Configuration

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Document B01

SourceForge.net: Recommended User Software Configuration

Table of Contents

• B01- 01 OS Platforms
• B01- 02 OS Updates, Security Practices
• B01- 03 Web Browser Software
• B01- 04 Web Browser Requirements
• B01- 05 Tools for Software Developers
• B01- 06 CVS Client Software

  for source code version control, an optional part of software development

• B01- 07 Subversion Client Software

  for source code version control, an optional part of software development

• B01- 08 SSH Client Software

  for project web content management and project shell access

• B01- 09 CVS over SSH

  for developer write access to CVS repositories

• B01- 10 OS Enhancements for Software Developers
• B01- 11 RSS Aggregators
• B01- 12 Unlisted Software

01
OS Platforms

The following modern OS (Operating System) platforms are supported for access to the SourceForge.net site:

• Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, and XP.
• Apple Mac OS X.
• Recent Linux distributions.
• Recent FreeBSD releases.

Other solutions are covered as unlisted software.

02
OS Updates, Security Practices

SourceForge.net encourages you to follow the best practices regarding security. Through good computing habits, you will reduce the frequency of computer problems that can impact you and other Internet users. You will also eliminate many issues that would prevent you from enjoying the SourceForge.net site.

Good security practices, often recommended by OS vendors, include:

• ensure your machine is free from unwanted spyware, trojans and viruses;
• operate your machine from behind a hardware or software firewall to prevent unwanted remote access;
• apply all OS vendor-supplied patches and updates;
• upgrade to more current OS releases when support is ceased for older releases, to ensure availability of security patches and critical bug fixes;
• scan all downloaded software before execution or running;
• do not give out your SourceForge.net password -- SourceForge.net staff will never request this information;
• report problems you find in software to your OS distributor or the developers of that software, so those problems may be fixed.

AntiVirus software, suitable for dealing with spyware, trojans and viruses may be obtained from the ClamAV project (hosted on SourceForge.net), McAfee or Symantec.

03
Web Browser Software

The following browsers are known to work reliably with SourceForge.net, without compatibility problems:

• Mozilla 1.7.11 and above.
• Mozilla Firefox 1.0.6 and above (formerly Mozilla Firebird).
• Mozilla Camino 0.8.4 and above on Mac OS X.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and above.
• Netscape 8 and above.
• Safari on Mac OS X.

Other solutions are covered as unlisted software.

Software with known problems accessing SourceForge.net:

• Old browsers: Bugs are present within a number of older web browsers. Bugs in Netscape 4.x and older Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers may impact your ability to properly access SourceForge.net. Please upgrade to the latest stable browser release, as using older browsers is typically a significant security risk.
• Certain software firewalls: We have seen reports of download problems from users of NetBarrier for Mac OS X. NetBarrier users may need to disable the ad blocking features of this software in order to download files from SourceForge.net.
• Third-party download managers: Download managers provided by third parties (i.e. not the browser supplier) are not supported and should be disabled before downloading from SourceForge.net. Download managers from the browser supplier (such as Mozilla) typically work without issue.
• Mozilla PSM: Mozilla users prompted regarding PSM should install the mozilla-psm package, available from the same place they obtained Mozilla initially (their OS vendor, or the mozilla.org web site). PSM includes SSL support, needed for login to the SourceForge.net site.

04
Web Browser Requirements

Portions of the SourceForge.net web site utilize specific browser features, which must be enabled for proper operation. These include:

• JavaScript, which allows us to do certain types of dynamic user interface elements.
• Cookies, which allow us to store authentication tokens and other persistent session information on your workstation. They may also be used by our advertising providers on our pages.
• SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which may encrypt data sent between your workstation and the SourceForge.net site for added security. SSL support is required for login to SourceForge.net.
• 800x600 minimum screen resolution, to allow sufficient space for our layout elements such as navigation bars.

SourceForge.net uses off-site JavaScript references for displaying advertisements to our users. If you have off-site JavaScript disabled in your browser due to security concerns, we recommend you allow the hosts ".ostg.com" and ".falkag.net" to run JavaScript on your browser, as disallowing these hosts may cause JavaScript errors.

05
Tools for Software Developers

SourceForge.net provides many services to software developers. Some special tools, such as CVS, Subversion and SSH clients, are needed for access to these services. These tools are not typically required for SourceForge.net site users, only by software developers and project members accessing SourceForge.net services like CVS.

• To manage project web content, you need a SSH client and must be a project developer.
• To retrieve source code from a CVS repository, you need a CVS client.
• To write to a CVS repository, you need both a SSH client and a CVS client, and you must be a project developer.
• To retrieve source code from a Subversion repository, you need a Subversion client.
• To write to a Subversion repository, you need a Subversion client, and you must be a project developer.
• To release files for download, you need a web browser and must be a project administrator or an authorized project developer.

06
CVS Client Software

SourceForge.net provides CVS service to projects, allowing them to centrally store the source code to the software they are developing. This central storage allows easy access both for project developers and end-users. Projects have the option (it is not mandatory) of using the SourceForge.net CVS service to maintain their source code; each project is provided their own CVS space, called a repository.

Site users may retrieve the very latest (not necessarily ready for release) source code from CVS. Project developers are able to post their changes back to the source code stored in CVS. CVS helps to prevent developers from overwriting changes made by other developers. CVS also keeps track of each change made to the source code, including who made the change. Each change in the CVS repository may be used to generate a patch which could be applied to another version of the software, or may be removed if need be.

In order to access a CVS repository, you will need a CVS client. If you are a project developer who will be writing to the CVS repository, you will also need a SSH client.

Open Source operating systems, such as Linux and FreeBSD, typically include command-line CVS clients in their default install or they are available directly from the OS vendor.

The following are supported CVS clients:

• TortoiseCVS 1.8.18 and above, for Microsoft Windows, hosted on SourceForge.net. TortoiseCVS configuration is documented here.
• The official CVS client (from cvshome.org), included in most Linux and BSD distributions; available for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, Fink (on Mac OS X), and Cygwin (on Microsoft Windows). The official CVS client configuration is documented here.
• WinCvs 2.0.2.3 and above, hosted on SourceForge.net. WinCvs configuration is documented here.
• CVSNT on Microsoft Windows.

Other solutions are covered as unlisted software.

07
Subversion Client Software

SourceForge.net provides Subversion (SVN) service to projects, allowing them to centrally store the source code to the software they are developing. This central storage allows easy access both for project developers and end-users. Projects have the option (it is not mandatory) of using the SourceForge.net SVN service to maintain their source code; each project is provided their own SVN space, called a repository.

Site users may retrieve the very latest (not necessarily ready for release) source code from SVN. Project developers are able to post their changes back to the source code stored in SVN. SVN helps to prevent developers from overwriting changes made by other developers. SVN also keeps track of each change made to the source code, including who made the change. Each change in the SVN repository may be used to generate a patch which could be applied to another version of the software, or may be removed if need be.

In order to access a SVN repository, you will need a SVN client.

Open Source operating systems, such as Linux and FreeBSD, typically include command-line SVN clients in their default install or they are available directly from the OS vendor.

The following are supported SVN clients:

• TortoiseSVN 1.2.6 and above, for Microsoft Windows, hosted on SourceForge.net. TortoiseSVN configuration is documented here.
• The official SVN client, included in most Linux and BSD distributions; available for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, and Windows. The official SVN client configuration is documented here.

Other solutions are covered as unlisted software.

08
SSH Client Software

SSH (Secure SHell) allows you to connect to a remote host in order to securely transfer files or obtain an interactive shell (where you may execute commands that run on the remote host). SSH provides added security compared to protocols like TELNET and FTP, since SSH does not transfer password data in a way that may easily be intercepted.

All SourceForge.net services which involve SSH are provided only to members of hosted projects. Our services which require the use of SSH include:

• Uploading and managing project web content via the project shell server.
• Writing to a project CVS repository.

The following are supported SSH clients:

• OpenSSH, included with Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Fink, and Cygwin.
• PuTTY for Microsoft Windows.
• WinSCP, a file transfer tool for Microsoft Windows, hosted on SourceForge.net.

Other solutions are covered as unlisted software.

09
CVS over SSH

Project developers may be given permission by project administrators to write to the project CVS repository. In order to write to the repository, developers must use a CVS client in conjunction with a SSH client. This combination allows the developer to securely authenticate to the CVS server and ensure the transfer integrity of the changes passed between their workstation and the CVS server.

Instructions are provided for using CVS and SSH client combinations:

• WinCvs with PuTTY (Windows)
• The official CVS client with OpenSSH (Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, Cygwin, Fink)

Instructions are not yet provided by SourceForge.net for the following supported combinations:

• TortoiseCVS with PuTTY (for key generation), covered by the TortoiseCVS FAQ.
• CVSNT with PuTTY (for key generation), covered by the CVSNT manual.

10
OS Enhancements for Software Developers

Tools like CVS and SSH clients are used by most developers on SourceForge.net. Proprietary operating systems, such as Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, do not typically include the latest releases of these tools.

For Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, Open Source tools (including OpenSSH and CVS) are available as part of software suites provided by third-party projects:

• Apple Mac OS X: The Fink Project, hosted on SourceForge.net, provides hundreds of prepackaged Open Source tools for Mac OS X users. Fink may be installed using the instructions in the Fink Quick Start guide.
• Microsoft Windows: The Cygwin project provides many Open Source tools for Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP users. These tools may be installed using the SETUP.EXE program provided by the Cygwin team.

Open Source operating systems such as Linux, BSD: Linux and BSD distributions typically include CVS and SSH clients among other Open Source software. CVS and SSH can be installed from the OS media, or from the OS vendor via the Internet, if not installed initially.

11
RSS Aggregators

RSS is a simple data format that allows web sites, such as SourceForge.net, to export data that can be viewed using news ticker or aggregation software. This data may also be syndicated on other web sites, as you see in the side bars of Slashdot and freshmeat.net.

SourceForge.net provides a number of site and project RSS feeds. In order to access these RSS feeds, you need a RSS reader or aggregator.

12
Unlisted Software

This document covers the software configuration considered ideal for access to the SourceForge.net site and services. There are a large number of other software solutions that you may use to access these same services, including a number of very good Open Source software solutions.

For this document, we have selected what we consider to be the most mature and stable solutions; those which we have the most experience in using and supporting. Through use of one of the solutions referenced in this document, you help to ensure that you will receive a proper and timely response if you encounter a problem when using SourceForge.net.

Not all software configurations will be supported ways to access SourceForge.net. If a significant number of issues are found with a particular software configuration, it will be added to our listing as having a known problem.

We consider most recent Linux distribution releases to be suitable for use with SourceForge.net. Linux distributions are numerous and include: Red Hat Linux, Fedora Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, and SUSE Linux. Red Hat Linux and SUSE Linux are commercially supported. Information on other Linux distributions is available at Linux.com.

The SourceForge.net team is constantly evaluating new software solutions. Listings will be added to this document as new solutions reach maturity and significant levels of adoption (increased user base).

Document links:

• Return to the top of this page.
• Return to the list of documentation.
• Search Site Docs using the 'Site Docs' search, which is accessible at the top of most pages.
• Get support, assistance, or help on a topic covered in this document.
• Report a broken link or bug in this document.
• This document was last updated $Id: document.xml 5781 2007-02-22 12:18:20Z moorman $ by the SourceForge.net team.
• This document was prepared by SourceForge.net staff as part of our Site Documentation project.

Site Docs referenced in this document:

• B02 - Service Listing
• B08 - Things We Offer, Ways to Use SourceForge.net: Tools, Downloads, RSS Feeds, Project Data, Statistics, Search, Publicity
• E01 - File Release System: Offering Files for Download
• E04 - CVS (Version Control for Source Code)
• E07 - Project Web, Shell, VHOST and Database Services
• E09 - Subversion (Version Control for Source Code)
• F03 - CVS Client: Command-line CVS client with OpenSSH
• F04 - CVS Client: TortoiseCVS with PuTTY
• F05 - CVS Client: WinCvs with PuTTY
• F06 - Subversion Client: Command-line SVN client
• F07 - Subversion Client: TortoiseSVN

Document B01 - Recommended User Software Configuration
SourceForge.net Site Documentation

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