planning for site for program downloads

Hello,
I want to build a site where programmers can upload their programs or applications and users can download these programs. They can be either free or not free as far as cost depending on the uploading user's choice.

How should I approach this. My web building knowledge is limited. I can not build this site myself.

Are there any readily available templates for this purpose or should i have someone build this for me?

what are the key points to consider for such a website.

first thing i am thinking is that obviously the website needs to make sure that people arent uploading malware or virus....

how about making sure the uploaded programs work? (or is this too much work)

should this be written in php?

what kind of website is this called?

so bottom line, i may not even be asking all the necessary questions here but i am sure you get the point. i need some advice on this.

Wow you’re asking for a major application, for someone with limited webbuilding knowledge. I’d say this is way above your head if you wanna do this alone. So, basically you’re after something like github (https://github.com/)?

Or something like download.com / hotscripts.com.

You need considerable PHP skills if you are to build such a site from scratch. Look for a script that matches the best in Hotscripts and customize it. You may need to do some manual checking of the uploaded files or even not allow direct upload to your site at all. Basically you need a directory style site with users submitting data and admin approving before it appear on the site.