The Garage is great, but it isn't for everyone. It's a bit like a Sourceforge, for project management among multiple developers, and developers should be allowed to use whichever project management mechanism they want, be it the Garage or whatever. If you don't have a project management mechanism, the Garage fits the bill. But, in the end, the Garage is for developers and power-users - it shouldn't be a website for general end-users.

The Maemo Downloads website, however, is targeted explicitly for end-users. When your Garage-hosted (or wherever-hosted) project to a end-user-consumable state, you should be advertising it on Maemo Downloads. The interface may not be great, and it may not be very fast all the time, but it is intended to be the one-stop shop for downloading end-user Maemo software. There is no reason to avoid advertising your end-user-ready Maemo software on Maemo Downloads, unless you hate Maemo.

Discussion forums are great, and perhaps Maemo Downloads could support a better forum mechanism, but I have to agree with GeneralAntilles about the fragmentation - creating yet another Maemo software website is just going to confuse people. Just because "not everyone puts their packages on Maemo Downloads" doesn't mean we should create yet another website - after all, not everyone is going to put their packages on ITT's website, either.

No disrespect intended (I love ITT), but as a developer, ITTSS makes my job more difficult, because if I want to reach the largest audience, I now have to remember to manage my releases on yet another website.