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ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Original poster
Nov 26, 2007
9,567
6,073
I'm thinking I'd like to set up a plugin for Xcode that allows users to very easily share and sell libraries / frameworks with each other.

I'm imagining it would resemble the Mac App Store in many ways... it would offer the ability to search the database, it would automatically add the framework, it would automatically add the documentation, etc.

People uploading frameworks would pick from a short list of licenses, they name a price (or pricing model), they include the description, the documentation, sample code, images, videos, etc.

People downloading frameworks will be able to leave comments and start discussions about the framework.

Either I myself or people I hire would regulate the frameworks and ensure that they're up to a certain standard and non-redundant (IE, I don't want the equivalent of 100 identical flash light apps on the iOS app store.)

I'd probably follow Apple's model and take a cut of 30% or less (depends on how much I find operating this costs.)

I figure initially I'll make it simple and have only a single license for totally free frameworks, but that as soon as I figure out how to process payments, I'll offer the options of frameworks that have to be licensed or purchased.

Does such a thing seem worthwhile? If I offered it, would anyone upload to it? Would anyone download from it?

(This differs from GitHub and similar code sharing sites by keeping things quick and simple. You search for a framework, hit a button, and bam, the framework is right in your project - no other work needed. Authors need not share their source, and users need not want it, because the frameworks are curated and verified to work, no tinkering needed. Authors have financial motivation to share the things they've done.)

Depending on how I implement this, I could even have genius suggestions provided as you type - it could detect that the code you're typing might have already been written for you in an available framework.
 
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