[GLLUG] I had an idea, now, How to Find a good developer?

[Richard Houser]

You don't really need wads of cash.  Some of the best software projects
have been done on shoestring budgets.  You only need wads of cash to get
someone else to do all the work for you.  You have to bring something to
the table, and if you don't have the skills, that means you are Mr.
Moneybags.  If you have the time, discipline, and inclination, you can
certainly teach yourself most of the necessary skills.  Reading the license
agreements is a simple example.  OSS licenses are specifically written in
plain language so you don't need to hire a lawyer to understand them.  If
you are willing to devote a couple years to developing the appropriate
skills, you could probably do 90-95% yourself with open source.  It may
very well be ugly under the covers, but you could have something working
for a very low cost.  It wouldn't even need to be an expensive education:
(ex. http://ocw.mit.edu/).  Getting a basic CS education would also help
you identify a good developer, btw.  There are LOTs of bad ones, and you
usually need an engineer and/or experienced software developer to spot the
difference before it's too late.

For my part, I'm slowly developing the skills and a small prototyping lab
to build my first few attempts at potentially commercial projects (several
years in).  Pure software guys have it easy.....

On Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 8:25 PM, Peter Christenson <pac1.mi at gmail.com> wrote:

> All,
> Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions. They have been very helpful
> in in my thoughts about moving forward.
>
> As a recap, the pointers I have learned that will help my idea to come to
> life, are that, an NDA may be needed to protect myself from having the idea
> stolen, however idea's can not be patented, and no one really wants the
> idea, only the outcome.  I need to research the market for similar things,
> and find out what will make mine different. I Will need stacks of cash, and
> then more stacks after that.  I should learn how to write formal
> requirement documents or hire someone to do it for me. I need to research
> the licenses of each piece of software, and possibly consult a lawyer. I
> should hire the best developer I can to build a good team of  developers I
> can because they cost less than cheaper developers.  If I can't communicate
> what I want, I will get a beautiful system that doesn't do what I want. And
> last but not least. I need stacks of money ;-) I hope I haven't missed
> anything.
>
> So... when trying to find a developer what should I be looking for, that
> will  qualify them as a good one, when I'm not one?
> On Feb 3, 2015 1:11 AM, "Thomas Hruska" <thruska at cubiclesoft.com> wrote:
>
>> On 2/2/2015 1:04 PM, Peter Christenson wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Patrick and Chick, Thanks for the fast response.
>>>
>>
>>  however I will share that it is a meal planning and shopping list tool
>>> that
>>> would be available via browser as well as mobile app and maybe even a
>>> desktop app.  with the goal of helping the end users, without adding more
>>> complexity to their lives.
>>>
>>
>> Oops.  Missed this.  Still pretty broad and it's the sort of thing that's
>> been done a zillion times.  You'll have a lot of competition in the space.
>> Google Docs is probably your biggest competitor.  Google is not worth
>> taking on.
>>
>> --
>> Thomas Hruska
>> CubicleSoft President
>>
>> I've got great, time saving software that you will find useful.
>>
>> http://cubiclesoft.com/
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> linux-user mailing list
> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/public/linux-user/attachments/20150203/2c624729/attachment.html>