soren42's Journal: My Foray into Free and Open Source Software

Well, I've finally taken the plunge, and started open development on a F/OSS project. I've been working for two months now doing the architecture, planning, and other high-level development on a new project. I finally officially kicked it off on SourceForge and opened the project yesterday.

The software will be a comprehensive document management system, with advanced features such as workflow, version control, in-place editing, and much, much more. I had the inspiration when we needed just such a tool at my day job, and I found no mature free software alternative to meet the need. While I have no intention of ever using it at the office (and I really can't work on it at the office!), it is something I have a background in, and I'm certain there's a need for.

One of the more difficult things was naming the project. Every combination of keywords I wanted to use was taken - there are a ton of projects and tools out there with names that are combinations of "free", "open", "document", "deploy", "manage", and other attractive keywords. I finally decided to go with something more esoteric, and give up my family website domain name. I've opted to name the project "Akoria".

So, if you're interested in helping out, or just want to take wander over to the SourceForge project page. And, as always, feedback and comments are welcome.