Page 1 of 1

Source forge

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:06 pm
by alex.barylski
I think I'm going to SF my CMS...

After 3 weeks or so...I've grown tired of no one making a purchase...

And...it's not really something I want to put my business name on for a commercially supported product...yet anyways...I think it has potential as it solves the problem differently than many other CMS's

What I'd like to know then are the following:

1) I think I will still reuqest a small payment if people use it commercially - say 50USD instead of $200 USD...anyone have experience with accepting payments via paypal and a SF project? Does it work? Do people actually pay? SF is kind of known as a FreeForge...so I'm concerned...

Then again even one contribution is better then I'm getting now :P

2) Donations...Any opinions???

3) Will SF will host my project....I already have a domain name and design which I want to use...does SF allow that kind of customization? Can I run PHP scripts, etc?

Cheers :)

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:37 pm
by Sphenn
To question #3, yes to everything. SF has a docs section that explains everything pretty well.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:40 pm
by alex.barylski
cool...i'll look into it further :)

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:34 am
by Gambler
2) Donations...Any opinions???
Yes, they have some sort of donation system powered by PayPal. I never used it, though.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:54 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
I think I will still reuqest a small payment if people use it commercially - say 50USD instead of $200 USD...anyone have experience with accepting payments via paypal and a SF project? Does it work? Do people actually pay? SF is kind of known as a FreeForge...so I'm concerned...
Donations are typically a rarity that depend on how popular a project is, and how useful users find it - I wouldn't depend upon them as an income line unless the CMS was very popular. SF is known as a FreeForge for good reason, it's a well known website which hosts open source projects. You have to keep in mind the CMS market is saturated - there are few niches to be exploited which haven't already been battered to death by open source solutions which are typically free. Still, this is a world where advance versions of phpNuke sell like hot cakes for $10 a pop... And we all know just how bad phpNuke is (yes, respect for being early to market - but it's bad in 2006).

Worth noting the Open Source Definition specifically states limitations on commercial use are not acceptable - http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php - see section 6. Not badgering on the topic - it's your work to distribute as you see fit. Just saying be careful how you word the offering or you may find a commercial restriction hard to enforce. This would also block registration on SF which enforces the OSD when considering new projects.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 11:56 am
by alex.barylski
Worth noting the Open Source Definition specifically states limitations on commercial use are not acceptable - http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php - see section 6. Not badgering on the topic - it's your work to distribute as you see fit
No restrictions, just require a nominal fee...before commercial use :P

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 2:02 pm
by AKA Panama Jack
Another thing some projects are doing is offering a membership fee. If you pay a monthly membership fee or a yearly membership fee you will have access to the latest version of the code before it is ever released on Source Forge.

In otherwords SF may have version 1.5.9 of an application availible for free download but the latest version is 1.6.0 and is only availible for download to paid members on another site. The paid members will be able to download the 1.6.0 version for at least 6 months before it goes to SF for anyone to download. And the members also get access to any beta versions.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 2:08 pm
by Roja
Hockey wrote:
Worth noting the Open Source Definition specifically states limitations on commercial use are not acceptable - http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php - see section 6. Not badgering on the topic - it's your work to distribute as you see fit
No restrictions, just require a nominal fee...before commercial use :P
You should read the whole page linked above. Specifically, section 1.1:
1. Free Redistribution

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

Rationale: By constraining the license to require free redistribution, we eliminate the temptation to throw away many long-term gains in order to make a few short-term sales dollars. If we didn't do this, there would be lots of pressure for cooperators to defect.

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 2:25 pm
by alex.barylski
AKA Panama Jack wrote:Another thing some projects are doing is offering a membership fee. If you pay a monthly membership fee or a yearly membership fee you will have access to the latest version of the code before it is ever released on Source Forge.

In otherwords SF may have version 1.5.9 of an application availible for free download but the latest version is 1.6.0 and is only availible for download to paid members on another site. The paid members will be able to download the 1.6.0 version for at least 6 months before it goes to SF for anyone to download. And the members also get access to any beta versions.
Thats what I was thinking of doing, but that would require me to host on my own server by the sounds of SF rules...i'm reading :(

I was also thinking...of offering a annual fee for access to forums or something similar...

I like the idea, because people only pay if they already know they are interested in my project...as I hate the idea of people asking for their money back :(

Thanks for reconfirming my idea...at least I know it's not...totally out there :P

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 2:28 pm
by alex.barylski
yea...I read the source forge docs and they clearly stipulate your not to make *any* money via their web site...no commerce, no ads, that includes Google Ads, etc...donations thats it it seems...you make money...they want it hosted on your own...which is fare I guess... :P

I'll use SF for now...but eventually I plan on hosting it on my own...