This change affects only the payout system. Pling will continue to operate and develop the platform and its services
Still, the site www.pling.com is obviously entirely gone, and I’ve got to say I am a bit surprised about it. I admit never having really understood the need for and the idea behind this site, but I guess that’s just my own lack of comprehension.
Well, I could just move on, but then again, I am just too curious. Moreover, being a member for already 15 years, I gotta say I care about the whole project – at least I care about transparency. So may I ask a few questions:
Do the so called “planet linuxing groups” still exist, and if so, could you explain what they are?
Will all the links stay valid by being redirected or do I need to update them in my product descriptions?
Now that the “plinging system” is down, the old selection criteria for the spotlight seem to be outdated. What is the future solution for this problem?
Thanks for your questions, and thanks for being part of the community for 15 years – that really means a lot to us.
“Planet Linux’ing Groups”
That was simply the tagline displayed in the footer of pling.com, describing what the site stood for – a home for the broader community of people creating and sharing libre content. It wasn’t a separate feature or program.
As a quick recap for all: pling.com was introduced in 2019 as an umbrella overview site expanding beyond the Linux desktop focus of opendesktop.org – covering libre content like Artwork, Cliparts, Phone content, and Multimedia released under Copyleft or CC licenses.
Some of the individual topic-specific sites (kde-look.org, gnome-look.org, etc.) continue to exist as before. Others continue to exist as a subdirectory (e.g., /s/cinnamon) of opendesktop.
All existing pling.com links will continue to work via redirects for the foreseeable future. There are no plans to discontinue them, so you don’t need to update anything in your product descriptions.
The “plinging” system and Spotlight
You’re right that the old selection criteria are no longer in place. We are currently working on a new algorithm for the Spotlight section. The goal is to surface high-quality products that deserve more visibility but haven’t yet reached a wide audience – “hidden gems” rather than already-popular content. The new approach will factor in download momentum, rating signals, and a rotation mechanism to ensure variety. No timeline to share yet, but it’s actively in progress.
Thanks again for the thoughtful questions – this kind of engagement is what keeps the community alive.