Since Nokia seem to have some inability to run a decent appstore (OVI), there was some ideas flinging around on #maemo (Irc).
Why not start our own Appstore.
I don't see anyone making large sums of money of it, but a small token of gratitude to the developers, in the form of a tiny sum of money would make the interest of making software much greater.
Ideas was flinging quite fast on IRC last night, so there is interest in it.

Discuss...


PS! Sorry for the bad grammar.

Are we talking about only Nokia devices?

I think there is a glaring gap for a decent OVI-type appstore for Symbian / maemo devices.

Ideally it would need to make a small profit to cover running costs. Maybe through ads and/or take a small cut of the app price (e.g. 10 or 20%)?

Could we use an open-source cart system to sell stuff?

I'm willing to start something up if people are interested.

I think we should create a site that opperates on donations and advertising, everyone gets a share of the advertising and obviously those apps that are "better" will recieve more donations. Perhaps a percentage split of the avertising revenue.

If this route is taken we could nail two birds with one stone, first being that people like you and I can support and create our own apps and the product we paid for and secondly, not all media has to be purchased to make money. Could we not do this with the current app download site we have?

Ideally a dedicated site designed for general public would be better. The existing download site is not very shiney

I think that this idea has potential. I'd go further; I think it is a must if the Nokia platforms are not going to die a death for the purposes of the casual user.

If you look at the amount of downloads that have taken place something like 12 million, surely the advertising generated from a dedicated website would bring in a few notes and then split up between developers?

Another point is that with the likes of the n900, could there not be adverts shown when downloading through the app manager? I don't mind seeing an image while the app downloads and if it means that this will lead to more apps then so be it!

I just think it would be a good idea to harness alterantive payment methods, and stay true to linux roots.

Could we support other platforms in the future?
e.g. Android, "the next big thing"?

I know there are other sites that offer app downloads but they are so heavily laden with advertising the sites become a pain in the bum to use.

Should we host the apps on our own server or provide download links to apps instead (maybe both).

I used to buy stuff from Palm's app site years ago (when I had a Palm T3) and it was really frustrating reading a review, clicking the download link then get a "page not found" error.

What happened to Litmus?

OK.

Let's imagine the site is running, advertising is bringing in some income and people are making donations.

How will we share profits with app makers?

Will the donation be towards the site or to a developer?

Apple are doing something similar with there iAd scheme so it makes sense for us to do the same. There just seems to be alot of apps out there that are not finished or could do with a bit of tinkering, giving developers a bit of insentive would promote said apps.

Don't get me wrong here I believe devices such as the n900 have a great deal of apps, but I still think there is room fro improvement.

Money should go both to the site and developers, the site should take only what it needs, while the developers could perhaps get a share of the remainder based on downloads. A lame app that does nothing will obviously generate less cash as it's... well, rubbish.