Member Avatar for darrglud

Linux Developers Association USA are looking for people who would like to develope and code programs, that there are many people requesting. The goal is to make a bunch of applications that will allow anyone to get what they want done, easily, and without coding their own software. As a coder, you will learn some important team-building skills, as well as helping the community.

We are non profit, and are NOT looking for money, nor will we pay money to people who help out. It's 100% volunteering, but in the long-run everyone wins. As a member, you also get the source code to ALL of the programs we develope, before they are released.

We only are coding Debian based software and webware. We are looking for someone to provide us a file server, for the source doe and applcations.

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DarrGlud

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A concise reply to and some practical next steps for and others.

SourceForge provides generic code hosting and downloads; the real difference for a Debian-focused group is in the output and process. A successful Debian-centric project does more than host source: it produces reproducible .deb packages, runs clean chroot builds and CI, signs and publishes an APT repository, follows Debian packaging policy, and commits to downstream maintenance and security updates. That operational stack — packaging, repo management, QA and ongoing maintenance — is what would set this apart from a simple SourceForge project.

Practical checklist to make that happen:

  • Use Git + issue tracker and require clear project pages and scope (as suggested).
  • Build in clean chroots with tools like pbuilder/sbuild and keep a proper debian/ directory for each package.
  • Automate builds and tests in CI so every merge produces a reproducible binary.
  • Sign packages and publish a curated APT repository using tools such as reprepro or aptly (Debian Developer's Reference, Reprepro wiki).
  • Define a lightweight release and security-maintenance process so volunteers know who maintains a package after release.

Governance and contributor experience matter: pick a clear open-source license, use a DCO or simple CLA if you need IP clarity, publish contribution guidelines and coding standards, label “good first bugs,” and require code review and signed commits. Prefer established Git hosting (public GitLab/GitHub or a self-hosted GitLab) over an anonymous file server unless full control is required—that lowers friction for contributors.

Making these operational promises public (roadmaps, estimated difficulty and time-to-release, mentors for newcomers) will attract reliable volunteers and is the core way this effort can be meaningfully different from a generic SourceForge project.

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Member Avatar for John A

Hmm... doesn't look like the company you speak of even exists yet. Anyway, providing a website with more information might spark more interest; simply providing the information above doesn't give enough information. Some things that you haven't talked about:

  • What requests are there?
  • Do developers get to choose what they want to develop, and then simply submit it?
  • Do you join an existing project and work with a team, or are you responsible for making a team?
  • Of what difficulty are the projects, and how long do you estimate them to take until first release?

Information such as this should be put on a website, along with contact information (although you shouldn't provide it here as that's not allowed).

Best of luck to your project.

--joeprogrammer

Member Avatar for darrglud

Hmm... doesn't look like the company you speak of even exists yet. Anyway, providing a website with more information might spark more interest; simply providing the information above doesn't give enough information. Some things that you haven't talked about:

  • What requests are there?
  • Do developers get to choose what they want to develop, and then simply submit it?
  • Do you join an existing project and work with a team, or are you responsible for making a team?
  • Of what difficulty are the projects, and how long do you estimate them to take until first release?

Information such as this should be put on a website, along with contact information (although you shouldn't provide it here as that's not allowed).

Best of luck to your project.

--joeprogrammer

Good Idea, in fact we have a website, which is http://lda-usa.wikidot.com/ . A brief little thing I will say is, the developers get to pick and choose what projects they want, and there will be some meetings, just talking about new projects and the progress on different projects. If there are multiple people developing a project, we will let the programmers have meetings. I'll post the rest on the website tommarow (around 9am EST). Thanks joeprogrammer though, for pointing out I need to give more details.

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DarrGlud

Member Avatar for indienick

Now, how is this much different than SourceForge, aside from focusing on Debian-based systems?

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