[Typo3-dev] I don't want to fork!

[Eric Blom]

Hello everyone,
I've got some development work at my web site related to
     FE user accounts
     FE user registration
     FE digital asset management (DAM) submission
     FE DAM viewing, sorting, and searching
     Typo3 newsletters
     Single-signon

I'm looking for a contractor to help me with these projects, but, I'm  
very concerned about creating a fork of existing extensions by  
working in a vacuum. I also see several of these development areas as  
core (frequently needed) features for a web site and want to give  
back to the Typo3 community by sharing the output of my sites  
development effort.

My question is how can I work with "Typo3" to accomplish these tasks?  
I've tried contacting a few of the extensions owners, no response.  
I've tried the extension team, no response. I'm grateful for all the  
work that has gone in to Typo3 to date and I don't want to just  
clutter up the extension repository with more extensions. I would  
rather use my resources to improve the state of the existing  
extensions so that new users find more of their needs met by the  
existing TER. I also don't want to go off and pay for features to be  
added that are already planned by other developers. I would rather  
pay the original developer.

Any feedback you can give me would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Eric