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." -- </Daniel P. Brown> Ask me about: Dedicated servers starting @ $59.99/mo., VPS starting @ $19.99/mo., and shared hosting starting @ $2.50/mo. Unmanaged, managed, and fully-managed! -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
