What you need to think about creating an open source project?

Question

I'm just about to publish the project as open, and I would really like some feedback on a few things:

• The code is pretty clean, but the history of version control is not. Errors, debugging code, possibly inappropriate code, etc. Do I have to delete the story before publishing or import it into the public repository?

• Should I give priority to creating a tutorial, describing functions, or api documentation?

• Other thoughts that make a new project easier for the user?

Answer 1

In my very humble opinion:

1) If you open source, be proud of your code. We all know that there are errors and mistakes along the way. There will also be more, so do not feel that you cannot publish them publicly. You can!

2) Definitely. This is probably the order, too, because the order that people using your product will read. They will need to use your software before they decide to work on it.

3). The best advice I can give is to have clear instructions for creating, hopefully with scripts to help people set up the environment. The common plague with open source software requires new developers to download many libraries and set up their box to work in the correct order to be able to create software. This, for me, is very frustrating and can throw me off very quickly.

Good luck

Answer 2

• It is entirely your choice if you have not used copyrighted code for which you do not have distribution rights, or if there is any problem related to redistribution, credit, whatever.

• It's hard to say without knowing what it is. What do you need to use it? What would you like to see first? (Maybe a tutorial ...)

• Perhaps an example from start to finish, including installation. Perhaps you should run into the problem of starting a virtual environment or installing a new OS, so you are sure that your installation instructions deal with everything.

Answer 3

• It should be easy enough to crush some commits together, and the effort will be worth it. Developers often review the story to get an idea of ​​how the project was developed on the ground.
• Definitely. The least you can do is create a documentation engine, such as Doxygen, to create documentation. At the moment, the textbook is probably not needed; the community will publish tutorials for you if the code is well documented.
• Good packaging always helps. Create precompiled binaries for several architectures and, if possible, create RPMs and DEBs. This significantly reduces the entry barrier. No one is involved in software that they do not use. You can additionally use a good bug tracker like Bugzilla, or use an integrated solution like Launchpad or Trac. Also configure your mailing list and IRC channel. This will help create a community.