The document discusses the differences between forges and app stores, and issues around joining the two. Forges focus on code and developer tools, while app stores focus on the consumer experience. Legal issues can arise from incompatible licenses between FOSS projects and app store terms of service. Metadata standards are needed to integrate forge and app store data focused on different audiences. Publishing to multiple app stores requires dealing with signing, packaging and release synchronization across stores and forges. It is unclear whether the effort of app store integration is worthwhile for many open source projects.

2. Open Forges and Open App Stores:
Joining the dots
Scott Wilson, OSS Watch

3. Forges ...

4. ... and App Stores

5. What are the differences
Forges are focussed around the code and
the tools for the developer community, with
perhaps a "prosumer" user experience.
Its up to projects if they want to build their
own more user-centric "shopfront"
App stores are more focussed on the
consumer experience with a generic
shopfront

6. App Stores
Platform-centric: iOS, Android, Mac App
Store, Windows 8...
Operator-centric: Vodafone, Orange...
Plugin directories: Wordpress, Chrome,
Opera...
Open Web Apps: Mozilla, OpenAppMkt
Niche stores: ITEC, SURFNet, Widgr,
internal enterprise stores

7. Traditional software downloads
CNet
Tucows
Soft32
Open Source Mac
Softpedia
...

8. Joining Up
What are the issues?
Contracts and licenses
Metadata
Publishing and synchronisation
Intermediaries

9. Joining Up: Legal issues
Some FOSS licenses are not necessarily
compatible with app store terms of service
(e.g. GNU Go, VLC...)
App Store model isn't necessarily a good fit
with distributed open communities
Need to interpret different store contracts,
agreements and T&Cs
http://oss.ly/appstores

10. Joining Up: Metadata issues
Forge metadata is focussed around
information related to the management of
the project, the code and community
(developer-centric)
App store metadata is focussed around
discovery, use and suitability (user-centric)
Standards?

11. Joining Up: Publishing
Integrating stores and forges
Multiple target stores
Signing and Packaging
Beyond one-shot publishing - synchronising
releases

12. Joining Up: Intermediaries

13. Is it worth it?
App stores seem to have a natural maximum size
before becoming less useful for discovery
App stores may be a side-channel rather than the
main channel for distribution - doesn't replace having
a user-centric website as well as developer-centric
forge page
For many open source projects that are cross-
platform, many potential app stores to target
How important is it to forges?

14. Scott Wilson, OSS Watch
@scottbw
scott.bradley.wilson@gmail.com
@osswatch