Central Registry For Open Source Project Ideas? 11
allinoneplace asks: "I would like to start working on an open-source project, starting from scratch since IMHO, is very difficult to jump into an already running project (reviewing the code would take months for some of them), and I've been speculating about some ideas on my own. However, I would like to know whether there is some place where proposals for open-source projects are posted, so that people might take and start them. The other way around: Is there any place where you can post projects you think are interesting but you won't be able to start?" What are your thoughts? Do you think the Open Source community really needs such a service?
The OSS community does not need such a service (Score:2)
We should guard against suggestions like these, lest our birthright be spoiled and we lose the sense of ourselves. Linux development is not about this kind of organised behaviour.
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:The OSS community does not need such a service (Score:1)
the FSF started with a goal of creating a Free (as in speech) O.S. They Copied Unix, Unix was there, and they copied it. Why, Because it was the best system at the time. RMS himself had said that they would take a Unix system, and begin coding replacements for all the programs, then remove the non free program from the Unix System. This isn't Chaos, it's a plan of attack.
I would love to see something like this, alot of programers may not have an "itch to scratch", but they may see something that is needed at a repository like this, as say "Hey I could do that."
here's three (Score:3)
theres a few more that I can't think of.
Plus, if you want more ideas, I bet I can think of one every 15 minutes for an entire night. I'll meet you at the local watering hole. You buy.
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Great idea (Score:1)
You want more than just ideas.... (Score:3)
The reason is simple: nothing is more frustrating than to have an idea but grossly underestimate the amount of effort it will take to bring it to completion. You think it will take a few weekends, but months later you may have nothing to show for it. Wouldn't you prefer to know that before starting, or to know if you're trying to make too big of a step, or just to have someone point out that the problem that's been stopped you cold for weeks has already been solved. (This isn't a slam on your skills - in many ways the only difference between beginners and experts is that the latter know how to ask for help.)
As for ideas, I agree that they're easy to come up with. The hard part is figuring out how much work is required and if it's worth doing.
Mailing lists/newsgroups (Score:2)
1) Make sure you like the project. Make sure you will use the project! If it doesn't fill one of your own needs, you won't stick with it. If it fulfills one of your own needs, you'll probably be happy with it even when it is small and almost featureless.
2) Announce it to the world! Put it in mailing lists and newsgroups that deal with your subject. Let them know what it does, and what it's limitations are. Give screen shots. Create two mailing lists: one for anouncements, and one for hackers.
3) To capture users and developers, implement a few of their pet features. People want to be involved in a project where the developers are responsive.
I've done #1, #2, #3 and have had a lot more success than I expected. My project, a ham radio APRS display built arount the Palm has actually attracted significant interest. I was more surprised than anyone! It was initially only designed to meet a small need for myself - a mobile APRS display. However, by open sourcing it and putting two features high on the list (a serial port spider another ham designed and implementing the BEACONNet protocol), I was able to get some additional interest in this piece of software.
Right now, I have several developers, lots of potential users, and a HTML page designer in response to my request on the mailing lists for help.
But, the key was that this project solved a need I had and it is something that I enjoy working on. And, I had to do a lot of work to get it to the point where I could communicate what it was to potential developers. Starting a successful project isn't easy.
What about a game? (Score:2)
You do NOT need to spend months reviewing the code before you can contribute. If you know anything about debugging, you could at the very least post some bug fixes. If your logic were true, then the only people that could contribute to Emacs would be original coworkers of Stallman.
Are you sure it's not more a case that you want the credit of having your name attached to the project as originator? You wouldn't be the first one to fall victim to that desire.
Please, for the sake of the community, at least try helping out on some existing projects first. You'll get more quick wins that way, you contribution more broadly to the software base, and you can stop at any time. If you create a project from scratch and decide that you don't like it after all, we're all stuck with another dead project on freshmeat.
Help out GNU (Score:1)
Help out GNU, it's the right thing to do.(TM)
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Re:The OSS community does not need such a service (Score:2)
I think you're confusing chaos with self-organization. What makes the bazaar model interesting is not that it is chaotic - I've worked in places where chaos drives software development, and the results are decidedly not the sort of quality you see in Linux and GIMP.
What makes the bazaar model interesting is that it is self-organizing (as opposed to order imposed by authority and hierarchy, as in the cathedral model). A central repository for projects would not (and indeed, could not) be "central" in the sense of being an authority or a single access point, but could increase effeciency by reducing redundant effort and by acting as a one-stop-shopping site - archive, documentation, and "help wanted" all together. And, in fact, bazaar-model projects commonly evolve such central repositories as they scale - including various famous FTP archives, gnu.org, sourceforge.net, and the Gutenberg Project.
OK,
- B
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Searching for projects on Sourceforge (Score:1)
Lots of people are trying to do lots of things. Instead of reinventing the wheel - or working on something by yourself - why don't you try going through some of the more promising projects, read the source code, get up to speed on it, that sort of thing? That way you can take advantage of all the work other people have done. |-) You don't have to start from scratch.
Then again, starting your own project does have its merits.