This is the first concrete step to be taken towards development of AntiLost - our dream. I've noticed a whole lot of confusion on AstaHost regarding the purpose of this site and its exact nature. Here I'm going to make the first ever public announcement regarding whole issue. But first things first: My heartfelt and sincerest thanks and regards to OpaQue - our beloved Admin from Astahost and Trap17 - without whom, this wouldn't have been possible. OpaQue donated the domain AntiLost.Com to this cause and triggered off the movement. Now, it is upon us to work together and make it a giant success.


AntiLost
[tab]The whole point of trying to launch an OpenSource Collaborative Software Development Site was to create something on the likes of Sourceforge.Net, where a well-coordinated team of contributors from all around the globe strives to create new software products or enhancements to existing opensource ones. I've had this idea on mind for a long time, but wasn't being motivated enough to get started on this project. But now, it's a REALITY. More so, because recently I've noticed that there has been a huge influx of very well-trained programmers at AstaHost - without who's support I wouldn't have dared to embark upon this venture. It's humanly impossible to organize and run something of such a huge scope all alone. My thanks to all of them for their active support to get me started in the first place.


What exactly will this site develop?
    [/tab]Anything. Which means, we'll deal with any kind of software that our members want to actively take part in and develop as a team effort. Not only will this help in solving the endless jumble of code far quicker - but contributions from a solid global knowledge bank will make such software stand way out against its commercial competitors in respect of features & operability besides being provided FREE OF COST to anyone who wishes to download and use them. At the beginning - this is going to be primarily IN HOUSE, i.e. we won't be open for project hosting till we've run into a decent degree of success. Till then, we will concentrate our efforts on developing systems to either enhance our own boards at AstaHost and Trap17 AND host new projects for existing members of these boards ONLY.


What kind of Software Licensing Policy shall we employ?
[tab]Since our ulterior motive is to run a site that houses OpenSource Projects, our licensing policies for each software developed and housed at this site will involve GNU GPL, OpenSource Copyleft etc. - all the free opensource licensing policies that will protect our software from being ripped off and commercialized. This means, any general user will have full access to our source codes as well. More on this later.


What needs to be setup at this site primarily?
    [/tab]To run the kind of operation we intend to, we will need (apart from this board):

• An opensource project manager software - that will enable us to track the progress of any under-development project, uniformly distribute workload, assign specific tasks to members, set immediate project goals etc. I've a few suggestions on mind. One is an almost completed stable production release of an opensource project manager named DotProject (http://www.dotproject.net) and another one is a partially designed one still in it's teething stages named SZProjectManager (http://www.subzane.com/projects.php?project_category_id=1) - both written in PHP.
  
  
• Other than that, we will also need some sort of a web-based interface for CVS (Code Versioning System) that will enable us to compare differences between the different code/module versions, effectively track changes etc.
  
  
• Yet, a third feature that we will need to incorporate is a web-driven interface to some popular C++/Java compilers, wherein project members will be able to compile and check the output of short pieces code. This will be done in view of the fact that a lot of members whon't have access to a decent compiler at work-place or schools, where they might want to see the output of some sudden bright spark they had
  

How can I contribute to this site?
[tab]You can primarily contribute in the coding challenges that we're soon to take up - domains would include C/C++, Java, PHP etc. And if you don't consider yourself to be much of a coder, you're more than welcome to take part in the continual development/improvement of the site itself or even in the interface improvements of our various projects. If nothing else, you can chip in a little out of your valuable time helping us write project documentations. All are equally welcome - doesn't really matter where your skills lie. You can always contribute to some aspect or the other.


Best Regards & Best Wishes,
miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG