SourceForge.net Implements Powerful Search Redesign and Site Upgrades

Search, Mailman and SCM improvements enhance visitor and developer experience

As part of an ongoing site re-architecture to optimize the user experience, SourceForge.net (part of the OSTG technology network, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VA Software Corp., NASDAQ: LNUX), the world’s largest Open Source collaborative technology site, has further enhanced its site and project search capabilities.

From the serious adopters and implementers of Open Source software to first-time visitors, the newly redesigned software map and search functionality make navigating the myriad of projects easier for the community member. By implementing enhanced sorting and filtering options, and introducing new advanced project and tool searches, visitors can quickly drill in to the site’s vast content.

“SourceForge.net is the number one destination for Open Source projects, but identifying a suitable solution among the more than 125,000 projects hosted on the site was sometimes a daunting challenge. SourceForge.net now offers the community robust and powerful search capabilities and a better way to browse our content. Judging from the increased usage of these offerings, the community is embracing these tools to find best-of-breed Open Source solutions,“ said Jay Seirmarco, general manager of SourceForge.net.

The addition of the new search capabilities is the latest change in a series of new services and upgrades to the site performed this year.

In May, the SourceForge.net team upgraded the mailing list management software (mailman) which today powers more than 1.2 million community e-mails daily.

In February, SourceForge.net launched a new Subversion service, providing projects with the flexibility to choose between CVS and Subversion for their software configuration management (SCM). In just over 5 months, the use of the Subversion service has grown dramatically, with close to 7,000 projects using it today.

More recently, the Subversion service was enhanced to enable projects to link to external Subversion repositories not hosted on the SourceForge.net site. This new linking capability will soon be extended to enable project administrators to offer users access to external tools or services (like documentation Wikis, developer blogs, or other collaboration tools).

“SourceForge.net’s unique value to the community is in providing a fully-integrated resource for development teams to create Open Source projects and applications; enabling technology professionals to participate in the enhancement of those projects; and giving the end user the ability to evaluate those projects and applications in a trusted, collaborative environment,” said Jay Seirmarco, general manager of SourceForge.net. “The SouceForge.net team is committed to being good stewards for the Open Source community. Our mission is to make this site the best resource available to the community it serves.”

More improvements are scheduled to go live in coming months, including a complete redesign of the file release system and significant improvements to site infrastructure to better handle growth. SourceForge.net currently serves approximately fifty million Open Source downloads per month.

SourceForge.net currently hosts more than 125,000 projects and adds close to 100 new projects each day; the site has also reached an all-time high of nearly 1.4 million registered users worldwide. This surge in growth has been fueled by the impact of Open Source on the mainstream technology landscape as more enterprise IT managers adopt Open Source solutions for their businesses.

For more information about SourceForge.net, visit www.sourceforge.net.

About OSTG, Inc.
OSTG, Inc. (Open Source Technology Group), is at the cornerstone of the Open Source movement and the leading online network for IT managers and development professionals. OSTG’s technology-focused sites include Slashdot.org, SourceForge.net, ITManagersJournal.com, NewsForge.com, Linux.com and freshmeat.net. SourceForge.net is the global nexus for the Open Source community with more than 125,000 Open Source projects and nearly 1.4 million registered users. OSTG also owns ThinkGeek, Inc., the leading retailer for innovative technology products. The network serves more than 270 million page views and approximately 30 million unique visitors a month**. For more information, visit www.ostg.com.
**Based upon Google Analytics data for April 2006

VA Software Corporation (Nasdaq: LNUX), the online media, software, and e-commerce leader in community-driven Open Source innovation, is the parent company of OSTG, Inc., and the creator of SourceForge® Enterprise Edition. SourceForge Enterprise Edition optimizes distributed development for Fortune 500 companies. For company information, visit www.vasoftware.com.

Slashdot, freshmeat, ThinkGeek, and SouceForge.net are trademarks or registered trademarks of OSTG, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. VA Software, OSTG, and SourceForge are trademarks or registered trademarks of VA Software Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names herein are the properties of their respective owners.