

Top ten reasons why I won't use your open source project - netherland
http://thechangelog.com/post/3032074343/top-ten-reasons-why-i-wont-use-your-open-source-project

======
davidw
My, that comes across as a bit preachy. You get something for _free_. So what
if it doesn't have a twitter account associated with it.

The important things are 1) does it do what I need 2) is there a good
community and 3) is the licensing clear, and compatible with my needs.

~~~
TomOfTTB
Perhaps but he's preaching against the very attitude you have which is "you're
getting this for free so you'll take what you get and like it"

If you're someone writing an open source project you're wasting your time if
it goes completely unused. So even as an open source developer you're still
trying to sell your project to people. You're just giving it to them at a VERY
reasonable price.

So what he's saying is all the same "selling a product" rules apply even if it
is open source. You can't just throw it out there and expect people to use it

~~~
davidw
> you're getting this for free so you'll take what you get and like it

That's putting words into my keyboard. I think most of it is reasonably good
marketing advice, and some of the items listed are horrible reasons to _not_
use something.

The title is the problem, really. If it were something like "how to help
people find your open source project" it would all fit into place much better.

------
dhimes
#1,2, and 7: Yes.

The others: not so much. When it matures (jQuery) perhaps worrying about
branding is in order. But if you are spending your hours making a tool for me
to freely use, I'm ok if your design isn't so pretty. And if you don't want to
spend much time on Twitter. And ...

~~~
TomOfTTB
I don't think the issue is as much about design as it is about seriousness.
Having a homepage for the project, spending some time or money on design and
reaching out to the community shows you're committed to the project which will
get others to commit. That's the best insurance a user can get against the
project being completely abandoned one day.

As someone whose tried to use open source whenever possible I can tell you
there's no feeling worse than using an open source component that's been left
for dead

~~~
orangecat
_I can tell you there's no feeling worse than using an open source component
that's been left for dead_

I'd say using a commercial component that's been left for dead is much worse.

------
amh
_6\. You don't have a Twitter Account_

Seriously? This would never in a million years have crossed my mind as a
reason to avoid using something.

~~~
netherland
Not a reason not to use. A reason I might have found you in the first place.

~~~
michaelcampbell
Perhaps, but the title is specifically "won't use".

------
kunjaan
If you don't use an open source project because they don't have a Twitter page
or they don't have a domain name or _gasp_ they don't reach out to you then
you are going to miss out on really solid pieces of work. I don't think
marketing prowess is something that should impede you from using these
projects. On a lighter note I am imagining Stallman reading this.

------
avree
Although the headline kind of loads the answer, and sets the whole tone at a
preachy level, his feedback is good - if you _want_ to drive attention/usage
of your open source project, you have to put in a minimal amount of marketing.

If that's not something you're worrying about, ignore the article.

------
T_S_
Ready for linkbait, I read the article and...it's good!

If open source figures into you company's strategy, as it does more often
these days, you need to do it professionally. Yes, even if it is _free_.

------
mindcrime
Great article, dodgy headline. Altogether though, some solid advice. My
project(s) meet a number of those criteria, but fall short on a couple of
them. So you've given me some food for thought, regarding things I can do to
better market my own stuff.

------
rbates
I disagree that GitHub's project pages "suck for SEO". GitHub's pages rank
quite highly on Google. A search for "cancan" for example returns my project
as the first result. A search for "homebrew" returns GitHub's page as the 3rd
result and the custom project page as the 4th result.

Also, creating a separate page for a project means there will no longer be one
page for people to link to. Links will be split across the two pages, and
links are important for SEO.

I agree a separate project page is great for branding and makes it look like a
dedicated, serious project; but I wouldn't do it for SEO purposes.

Otherwise thanks for the great list of ideas.

~~~
netherland
Thanks for the comment, Ryan. I think you make my point. If I know the project
is called 'cancan,' you're right GitHub results are favored. But when I search
for 'ruby authorization,' the only CanCan hit is a blog post from someone else
giving an overview of the project.

Love CanCan btw.

~~~
rbates
Thanks for the clarification. I misunderstood your post as saying GitHub's
project pages don't rank well in Google in general. I agree that a custom
project page allows you to better target other keywords (such as
"authorization") for SEO.

------
JoeAltmaier
Add: your source has so many accidental dependencies that its agony to extract
the bit I need.

Actually, I do use open source, even so. Its just lots harder than it needs to
be.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
To elaborate: if your IP is exhibited with an app, please, please put that IP
into a lib, or a separate API. Do NOT blend the app with the lib e.g. do not
mix in dialogs, command line stuff or even platform calls if possible.

I do embedded work a lot, and it doesn't have any of that, or its so different
as to be unrecognizable.

IP examples: encryption, protocols, file format interpreters, translators. I
(and very probably others) need your magic code 'naked'.

------
alanfranz
I have been elucubrating on the topic for a while; I think some of your points
are not so important (a pretty homepage will be needed once the community is
quite large, not for a just-started project).

By the way, my thoughts on community projects are here:

[http://ollivander.franzoni.eu/2010/12/building-successful-
co...](http://ollivander.franzoni.eu/2010/12/building-successful-community-
driven.html)

it's a multipart post, not yet finished.

------
wlll
…you used HAML

------
gd007
Good article. Does having a full documentation substitute the readme file?

Thanks,

\--Gautam

<http://fast-code.sourceforge.net/documentation.htm>

------
jbk
I am glad, my open source project doesn't have any of those issues...

------
leon_
Wow, that post is just wrong.

Open source is not a product. Open source is a community effort. If you don't
want to use it - well, it's your problem. No one will shed a tear about it.

If you actually would care about open source you wouldn't be making shitty
top10 lists. You would get your ass up and contribute to the project of your
choice. If you think twitter is important ... fine! Start a twitter account
for that project. Draw fancy icons. Do "SEO". Do something to help. And do
something to get rid of that false sense of entitlement.

~~~
adamstac
I know Wynn and his sense of humor, and I can see how easy it might be to
totally miss his comedic tone with the loaded title and seemingly "preechy"
top 10 list. When/if you meet him, you will know what I mean after a few
minutes into a good chat with him.

I will say though, that Wynn does contribute to Open Source - we all do at The
Changelog. He also did apologize in the opening sentence of the first
paragraph for the "loaded headline" as a hat tip to Mashable for an article
they posted two years ago titled, "FOLLOW FAIL: The Top 10 Reasons I Will Not
Follow You in Return on Twitter". It's Wynn's character to reference and
relate, but I can see how that could be missed. It's hard to "hear" someone's
tone in plain text, especially when you are quickly scanning a top 10 list.

This post was more about concrete ways to build community around your code and
things you can do to promote your open source projects.

~~~
juddlyon
Wynn is one of the nicest guys around and is very passionate about OSS. He's
the polar opposite of entitled or preachy - he writes, codes, interviews, and
speaks regularly. Perhaps his linkbait parody missed....

~~~
jasonlotito
Yeah, it did miss. He might have good points when you understand he's just
using that style as a gag, but after a few points, I just gave up.

------
sfermigier
We think Wynn's points are good points, we (the Nuxeo project) have been using
similar ideas to guide our community effort.

See: [http://blogs.nuxeo.com/fermigier/2011/02/top-10-reasons-
for-...](http://blogs.nuxeo.com/fermigier/2011/02/top-10-reasons-for-open-
source-success-how-does-nuxeo-stack-up.html) for more details.

