FSD : Free Software Developers

Hi, as the topic says , I am going to start a syndicate / move to help freeware or GNU license software developers to make thier place on the web , with a profisional and quality website similar to big comapies , I think it's a great idea , but I would like more comments or experiments from you ppl , and when enough information is collected , I am going to post the details of this Syndicate and all related materials .

this is going to be a FREE service of course
Thanks

Hey Mate,
I think the web is the domain of opensource / GNU / free software. There are already some spectacular sites such as freshmeat, sourceforge, opensource.org, etc ... promoting the opensource movement. Freshmeat is probably the best. Whenever I need a specific application, I search there first. You may be more successful with a 'community' approach where opensource users/developers could interact on forums. This said, creating a vibrant and successful community is very difficult without a very clever 'hook'.

Good luck in your endeavor.

cheers
hashbang

Thanks but what I am trying to make is not about making another opensource/freeware portal , What I ment is to make a Unique and Original website for each freeware/opensource application so it could be competitive with the ones that are not free , for example , I designed this website : http://www.1337player.com , which is a small DX9 video player ( freeware ) , I also designed the gui , the developer was very very busy working on this and his other projects , so he doesn't really have time or patience to learn or try to make a website and so , so he asked somewhere on a forum that he requires a webdesigner for his website and I applied and done the job, this is what i mean

I don't want to compete with SourceForge, they only offer a basic webpage and the space to host yours , but they dont DESIGN your site GRAPHICLY that is or even ur GUI and so on .

Very nice. I see he has a forum as well. Do you only provide hosting for the main site, or is forum service included as well? Also what kind of bandwidth limitations are we talking about here(obiviously some apps can be large, and hopefully lots of people would want to download your programs).

Sorry for the delayed reply

I don't provide hosting at all Prod. I just do the design , however if a certain number of requests / applications ( a large number ) I think it would be kinda intresting to blend the service with Astahost , so they can have thier Regual forum ppl and give them space as well .

Thats cool i cant wait to see what itl come like =P hope it´l be good and fancy =) i would like that hosting...but if you say no then its no "I think it would be kinda intresting to blend the service with Astahost , so they can have thier Regual forum ppl and give them space as well ." that would be cool =) oh well good luck for you

Hmm, by syndicate do you mean you would be trying to get as many software developers onboard, or you're trying to get as many website designers onboard? Because I think your idea is really good, but you need to have more than one web designer doing the job, especially if it gets popular. Having a group of web designers who are willing to help the software developers design their websites for free sounds a lot better than just one web designer, and the software designers will have more choice. Not to mention when the workload gets high at least it won't be just one person doing all the work. Having more web designers also ensure that the syndicate would be operational even if it grows to be very big.

thank you

Actualy it is all STARTED Now .. but on a local basis for now

I work in a Multimedia/Advertising agency here in Cairo,Egypt and i have gathered arround a group of 6 ppl ( 4 gfx designers / 2 Multimedia and Coders ) whom basicly AGREED to the idea .. and we started offering our free services for a few local developers .. if this works well ..

we will exapnd it into an online community .. something like DeviantART but you go there to sign up and ask for a Webdesign ... from the one or many webdesigners there

simply a web/gfx designer will post samples of his work , if u liked it , u will ask that special one to design ur software website for you for no charges at all .. just for a text link at the bottom linking to his page at the Syndicate

I hope i can collect more ppl

Wow, This is also a great service i ever heard in my life.Aside from freehosting offered by different site. Im really waiting for this. to laucnh and accept service from other nation.