VA Software begins mailing-list ads

Stephen Shankland principal writer

Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.

Expertise processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science Credentials

I've been covering the technology industry for 24 years and was a science writer for five years before that. I've got deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and other dee

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Stephen Shankland

Jan. 9, 2003 11:09 a.m. PT

VA Software, the creator of the SourceForge site for open-source collaborative programming projects, has begun inserting advertisements into electronic mailing lists used by software developers. The sponsored e-mails began in 2002, with current ads focusing on an announcement from VA Software and IBM that's expected later this month at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, VA's site for high-performance computing and VA's ThinkGeek e-commerce site for techie goodies.

SourceForge hosts numerous free mailing lists used by programmers to discuss projects such as Linux's use of USB (universal serial bus) or the network file system. Some have objected to the ads, including one Linux programmer who countered with his own "signature" that complained: "Worst form of spam? Adding advertisement signatures ala sourceforge.net. What goes next? Inserting advertisements into e-mail?"