I would agree about not taking downloads from maemo.org if it had every download there was for the tablets, but it doesn't so it isn't a one stop shop and never will be because you can't make people upload to maemo.org who don't want to. Second you can't discuss the software there even if you go to the garage check out the forums there no one uses them. So you come here for discussion why not also have the downloads here and at maemo.org which is what reggie is doing. If you want software for your Linux, Mac, or Windows computer do you go to just one site. No there are thousands you go to.

Here's the thing, Maemo.org has always been a resource for developers and I would bet that it was created and would grow as basically what it is -- a resource for developers. It has been so much a developer site that Nokia decided to create the Tableteer site which aimed to cater to end-users.

The itTSS really aims to complement Maemo.org and enhance Tableteer. itT's strength and focus is the end-user community. The itTSS' strength is to help the whole IT community -- both the developers and end-users.

Regarding "fragmentation", at times you have to denormalize. This is one of those times. But then again, who am I to say this, as I am only the guy who runs a "random web forum."

neither can you make ppl list applications here if they dont want to. so even though (if we're lucky) many applications will be at both places, some of the cool stuff will be at maemo.org only, while some will be only here. That's what "fragmentation" means.

Having the possibility to diskuss apps is nice, but thats whats happening anyway and should have been possible by only adding some new forum sections without the download stuff.

But then again, there's two ways to think about it:

The Right Thing (tm) certainly is to try and work towards a pleasant one stop shop for the end user. This probably means to enhance and re-use existing channels, or, even better, further reduce the number of websites and repositories (instead of adding new ones).

The other approach is to try as many ways as possible (the new service at ITT being one of them) and see which one will work in the long run. There'll be "me too!"-attempts to generate traffic, and there's a risk of fragmentation to a point where nobody finds anything because it's scattered among 182 places, but there's also a chance of something brilliant evolving.

I'm very conservative in these things, so my way of thinking is #1: Do "The Right Thing". At least I know approach #2 is possible, too. I'll see what happens.

While this may have been true in the past (I'm not sure that it, in fact, was—look at the old application wiki page), Nokia is definitely moving away from this moving forward with maemo.org becoming a much more community-oriented (not just developer) and organized centralized location for everything maemo.

Besides, Downloads and Planet are hardly developer-centric.

Then you should complement it, not duplicate it! Why wasn't this idea discussed with the community? or with maemo.org? Instead of having a discussion and arriving at something that really helps everybody, we have no discussion and end up with something that, I fear, will end up doing enough harm to offset whatever good it manages. . . .

Communities are not databases.

I don't see this as fragmenting anything since well like I said in the other post there is no one stop shop for everything and there will never be. This section will just try and make itT a place for people to discuss there problems, and help people get the software they disguessed

@GA: Let's see how Nokia reacts to this then. So far I'm getting positive feedback.

I suggest you relax.

Btw, Freeciv look great! It has 37 downloads already.

I'm not concerned with the Nokia reaction, I'm concerned with the effect on the community.

I'm plenty relaxed, thanks.

Me too!

Cool!

Here's my two cents...

Until recently, I was strictly an end-user of software. Then I chimed in on a discussion on crossword puzzles and ended up becoming a developer on xword. If I had been forced to set up the garage project myself, I probably wouldn't have since I'm lazy. As it is, I like the svn repository, but never utilize any of the bug/tracker facilities at the garage.

I had no real idea where to announce xword, so I initially just uploaded a .deb to the original forum discussion post. When the program was less buggy, I placed an [Announce] post in the Software area and monitored it for bug reports. As it stands, I still don't know what is the "best" procedure for announcing a software release.

I am worried about the fragmentation issue, but what I REALLY want is some clear documentation on the procedure for creating/distributing/announcing software. Can we come to a consensus on that? Even if we do have several correct "paths" (e.g. garage, maemo.org/downloads, forum, etc.), I want to be able to reference a document and point others to it as well.

Well when you upload software to the download section here now it makes a new thread for you about your software. That is one place you can do it.