Where to store information and programs

S'pose you have something--a utility, or a description of a neat application your company built, or ...--you want to contribute for general use. Where do you put it?

[We don't have CPAN.]

[What do we have?]

• RS obviously prefers this Wiki for storage of code and description ;-)
• For larger stuff, but still close to the wiki, there is (as of 2008) the Half Bakery.
• Old stuff may be found in the procplace (formerly known as NeoSoft) archive, which provides space for tar or zip type files.
• sdarchive is a site on which one can provide starkit or starpack versions of applications
• A large number of free web page hosts (such as http://www.geocities.com/ ) are available
• SourceForge - for developers who wish internet space for their source, binaries, forums, mailing lists, bug tracking, etc.
• Savannah
• http://www.berlios.de/
• [a variety of other similar sites whose names will surely be filled in here later]
• http://resource.tcl.tk/ aka Tcl Developer Xchange for one place to advertise URLs

See also the software hosting facilities page, and Where can I store my nifty new Tcl program so others can get it.

There are several parallel issues here.

1. some developers have code which they have written, but which they have no interest/time/resources to devote to doing anything more with the code. Rather than the code going into the bit trash can, they have interest in letting people on the net use the code. They however have no interest in performing fixes, hearing about enhancements, hearing from lawyers, etc. An adoption center for these ''orphaned' packages is an option here.
2. some developers have code that they wish to continue owning, but, like the last point, have no interest or at least time to invest in maintaining further.
3. some developers seek an internet based project to which they could contribute their code - the code itself is too small to be worth setting up a sourceforge project, etc.
4. some developers seek internet based disk space for their applications, and sourceforge or similar resource meets their needs. The use of TDX to advertise their project meets their need.

LV Can someone provide somewhere on this page the url for the orphaned code web site?

I don't know what to do about the case where the owner wants to continuing owning the code but won't be maintaining the code further.

Tcllib, tklib, and tclapps are 3 possible SourceForge projects for script only code contributions. However, I don't know of a comperable binary application or extension project.

There are several projects which provide project management and space facilities.

Several of us who do plan to maintain long-term storage generally make pieces of it available when asked. This works best for file images which change rarely.

Of course, finding the list of who to ask is still non-trivial.

Arjen Markus Steve Cassidy is offering an archive for zip-files (c.l.t 12 april 2002):

[http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~steve/cgi-bin/cantcl]

Note that Steve's archive is described on the Wiki: CANTCL.

Among "free Web hosting sites" [link to list ...], http://www.cfm-resources.com/ has a good reputation with some acquaintances.

If you wrap your code into a Starkit - then you can submit it to the Starkit Distribution Archive (sdarchive). These packages can be downloaded from the web, or quickly fetched and kept up-to-date (via HTTP) using the Starsync mechanism built into SDX. As of Feb 2003, there are over 100 starkits - ready to run: just add tclkit...

One issue to consider - should orphaned code be included in Cantcl, sdarchive, and other repositories of downloadable packages/applications? If there's no one around to answer questions or provide support, should one at the very least segregate the code so that proper expectations from downloaders is set?

It seems like there should be some place where abandoned code could reside - just in case someone wants to come along and adopt it. However, in general, the orphan code situation is one of the more common complaints - trying to figure out where to get help or newer versions of this or that package. Of course, there are always the many consultants, etc. available for hire.