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views:

87

answers:

2

I have some projects which I have ceased their development a long time ago but still get code access requests for. I'm currently providing zipped packages from my personal web site. I think zipped packages are far from being useful (e.g. can't read code right away, can't provide url's to individual source files, can't fork easily, lifetime is dependent on my own web page's).

I want that archaic code to be present on the net regardless I keep my web page up or not. I saw the question "What's the best open source hosting site?". However, most sites request the project "to be active", Codeplex for instance. I didn't go through EULA's of all providers to see if they allow abandoned projects.

Are there elephant's graveyards for old code without activity restrictions? Which one would you pick, why?

UPDATE:

I tried both Google Code Hg and GitHub to see which is easier to use. Although GitHub required SSH key setup and additional steps, it was still much easier to get going on GitHub than Google Code. On Google Code even finding "create a project" page was a hassle itself, every time I had to navigate through FAQ. Hg authentication did not work for some reason (yes I tried both encoding @ to %%40 and removing gmail suffix completely, didn't work).

On GitHub, creating/forking a project is a breeze, supports syntax highlighting for Pascal source files which was also a plus for those archaic code.

+4  A: 

I don't think code.google.com has such requirement.

You can host your project active or not for how long as you wish, and perhaps if a community will form around it grant someone the admin role to take the lead.

-- EDIT (based on ndp answer) --

You would obviously want to set your repository type to Mercurial, to allow easy cloning / branching for people interested in hacking on the code.

Maxim Veksler
Actually, the TOS do say "You agree that Google may at any time and for any reason, including a period of account inactivity, terminate your access to Google services," - but any free hosting is going to say that.
anon
@Maxim: I've been going through Google Code FAQ's to find out a clear explanation for this but failed to do so. I'll take your word for it if no better answer comes up :)
ssg
@Neil: good point but I'll swallow it if I there is no better option.
ssg
@ssg account activity issues aside - I'd recommend Google Code from personal experience
anon
I added an update regarding my experience on both GitHub and Google Code.
ssg
+2  A: 

Github would be a good choice. I don't think they have such a requirement and it would be simple for someone else to take over as the maintainer with no action necessary on your part.

ndp
I added an update regarding my experience on both GitHub and Google Code.
ssg
I decided to go with GitHub due to easier setup, Pascal syntax highlighting, and more importantly project names weren't taken over yet :)
ssg