On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 4:51 PM, Shawn McKenzie <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Daniel Brown wrote: > > > On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 4:36 PM, Shawn McKenzie <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > > > > Daniel Brown wrote: > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 11:36 AM, Shawn McKenzie <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Maybe slightly off, but this is a general PHP question :-) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [snip!] > > > > > > > > > > > > > So to my question: does anyone know of a site or forum where people > > > > > > > > > > > > request > > > > > > > > > > > > apps or sites to be built and then it can be voted on to track the > > > > > > > > > > > > people > > > > > > > > > > > > that are interested? I'm not talking about sites where people post > paid > > > > > development requests. Something open and non-contractual in the > spirit > > > > > > > > > > > > of > > > > > > > > > > > > open source. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > That depends, Shawn. Are you looking to be a part of an > > > > established project, or to start your own? If you wanted to work with > > > > a well-known team, I'd recommend starting with something like the > > > > phpBB group. You can start off by writing modules and such, and if > > > > you want, get into developing the core application itself. > > > > > > > > To develop full applications in open source technology to someone > > > > else's spec would make me very leery.... because there's almost a > > > > guarantee stamped right there that says, "you're doing my work for > > > > free, you're making me rich." And while, to you, it is in the spirit > > > > of open source, overall it defeats the purpose of open source. > > > > > > > > The best way to come up with an idea and build a project is to > > > > follow these simple steps: > > > > > > > > 1.) Stop giving a damn if something similar exists. You may > > > > build a better mousetrap. If developers always said, "no, that's > > > > already been done," there would be just one of everything - from > > > > open-source content management systems to full-blown operating > > > > systems. > > > > > > > > 2.) Stop thinking about how others will use your work for now. > > > > Be selfish and focus on yourself for a bit. This *does not* mean to > > > > ignore security and good coding practices, or even to ignore > > > > scalability.... only to not think about how others may accept your > > > > work when it's complete. Think of it as doing coding only for > > > > yourself, to make your life easier. > > > > > > > > 3.) Identify a problem that you experience yourself. For > > > > example, say you work part-time mowing lawns in the neighborhood. > > > > Each property pays you $5 per 100'x100' square per job, with a minimum > > > > of $5 required. You have 29 properties of various sizes that you mow > > > > each summer, and have always done one each day, taking the last day to > > > > scramble and try to be sure all accounts are paid. > > > > > > > > 4.) Outline how you want your application to work for you. In > > > > the example shown above, you might decide to have an administrative > > > > panel for you to enter the dimensions of each property under a > > > > different profile, with the ability to add users, and then view and > > > > invoice those with outstanding balances. You can then either merge an > > > > existing user-management framework (allowed by license) or write your > > > > own (it's one of the most fundamental, simple things to do). Then you > > > > may want to incorporate payment processing for PayPal and > > > > Authorize.net into that so that you won't have to knock on doors or > > > > drive to the bank. > > > > > > > > 5.) Use the application yourself for a while and work out the > > > > initial bugs. > > > > > > > > 6.) Place the code in a package on your own server with an > > > > explanation of what it does. Tell people who may be interested in > > > > using your work what it is, where it is, how to get it, and how to use > > > > it. > > > > > > > > 7.) You may even want to submit an entry to directories such > > > > as HotScripts (http://www.hotscripts.com/) or my old favorite, > > > > Resource Index (http://php.resourceindex.com/). > > > > > > > > Whatever you do, though, before you step into #6 above, be sure > > > > that you've clearly stated under which license you are distributing > > > > your code. Most commonly, of course, will be GPL, LGPL, and BSD, but > > > > you can use any existing license (such as Apache, PHP, MIT, etc.), or > > > > write your own. You may even choose to license your code for > > > > "anything, anywhere" as I do with some of mine (including all > > > > pseudocode) by using Copyleft- or Copycenter-style licensure. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks Dan, > > > > > > Your approach is a great one and actually how I wound up with my > current > > > two projects, one of which I forked into a more full featured and fully > > > supported commercial product. But those were my ideas based upon user > need. > > > > > > I wouldn't and I wouldn't expect others to really develop the app for > the > > > requester. This would be an idea farm, because ideas are what I am > lacking, > > > especially ideas that would have broad appeal. I thought maybe others > would > > > have the same dilemma. > > > > > > So instead of free code from me or other developers, I view it as > getting > > > free ideas from others, users and seekers of the apps (free and for > cost) > > > :-) > > > > > > I'm sure that given a few weeks of free time, you and many others here, > > > maybe even I could've built the original myspace or facebook. But we > > > didn't, someone else had the idea. > > > > > > Hope this makes sense. Just kind of rambling now as I'm frustrated > about > > > not having ideas with broad appeal. > > > > > > > Oh, what you're looking for is a think tank. I'd been trying to > > find people in my area to get together and do the same thing. No such > > luck around here, but you may have luck in your local area. Working > > offline with people, when you can bounce ideas off of one-another > > while doing something else, gets the creative juices flowing more, > > because you're not focused on saying, "okay, we need to come up with > > an idea." > > > > > Bingo! Except I was hoping that the end users of the app or site would be > the think tank, Internet wide. See, the users are not thinking, they know > what they want and they google for it or look on sf or hotscripts. So when > they can't find it, that's the idea! Better if you can determine that many > users have searched in vain or are struggling to find this particular app or > site, etc... Then you know that if you develop it it will have some broad > appeal. Am I making sense yet? > > -Shawn Sounds to me like you already have an idea. Andrew -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
