[Eric Raymond] explored the hacker community and the principles of free software in his book The Cathedral and The Marketplace, which could be considered the enlightenment of open source culture.
Now, more than 20 years later, the definition of open source continues to evolve, but freedom and community remain in its DNA.
I forget how long I’ve been in open source (two or three years? Or three or four years?) But it was only in the last year that I started and participated seriously. This experience gave me a different understanding of open source and even changed some of my understanding of software development.
Rare hypocritical once, just do an essay, write their own in the open source road some of the process.
If you want to learn more about my open source project, you can jump to PrettyZoo in the appendix at the end
Open Source and Dreams
I only know that when I first came into contact with open source, I was deeply attracted by this culture. Maybe it is human nature to yearn for freedom.
Looking at the home pages of well-known open source projects, I imagine that I am also the owner of thousands of Star projects. The Github home page is a large chunk of lu oil.
Yeah, just like this
At that time, I was still young and willing to try and make efforts. I participated in some well-known open source projects on and off, but eventually I did not stick to it.
Then gradually forgot this matter, in front of time, it is eventually covered with a second and a second of dust……
Until a sudden gust of wind blew away this dusty dream, I probably didn’t know THAT I had become what I had once dreamed of becoming: the owner of thousands of Star projects
All good things come to those who wait
Open Source vs. Open Source
Open source can be just open source or more than open source, and these two interpretations happen to be the two stages of my open source experience.
In the beginning, I also put the source code of the project on Github and left it alone. It was like putting a product in a public display case, and whether anyone saw it or not, used it or not, I kept it to myself.
Later, I gradually understood that open source could be more than open source, and began to try to do open source in more roles
- As a project r&d: to solve bugs, develop new functions, investigate technical feasibility, design system architecture, etc
- Operate as a project: write documentation, deal with community issues, promote on various platforms, pay attention to feedback, etc
- As project owner: to explore user needs, think about interaction design, draw functional prototypes, plan iterations, etc
- .
The changes brought by such a change in the cognition of open source are very intuitively reflected in the data of the project, such as the number of STAR, which was tepid in the first year, and then began to increase significantly
The number of issues in the community has a similar growth curve
It’s like starting my own business, but I’m the only one doing it full-time.
Open Source and Life
Every minute you spend on open source is a minute your life is compressed.
But when I really want to draw a line between the two, I can’t, because being open source is actually a lifestyle choice, and the two are not distinct.
The craziest part of my life was working on open source after work, including many weekends
Later, I began to control myself carefully. I had to allocate my time to reading, traveling, playing games, working and other things.
As time becomes more and more limited, I can only try my best to improve the value brought by unit time
- Practice MVP (the simplest implementable product) and make sure my prototype is what I’m already happy with before I write code
- Pursue automation and reduce repetitive work
- Emphasis on system design to ensure that the cost of system evolution is low enough
- Focus on engineering management to minimize entropy outside of core functions
- .
This has proven to be very effective and has helped you develop some good habits.
It’s like starting a business, but I can’t do it 24 hours a day.
Open Source and Revenue
So open source consumed so much of my energy and time, did not bring me any substantial benefits?
When it comes to money, none at all, and for a while I was thinking about Posting a QR code for sponsorship (at least for a cup of coffee).
Finally, I gave up, because the original intention of this product is not to make money, and the audience is limited, and it can’t make any money, so I continue to use love to generate electricity.
Well, not really, at least not during the interview: you were the author of the XXX project.
Although there is no fame or fortune, there are some illusary gains, such as a sense of achievement. I still remember that WHEN I received the first issue, I was surprised. It turned out that my products were actually being used by people, which made me happy for several days.
There’s also some skill growth, cognitive improvement that can be a benefit.
In this air are restless fast explosion of the era, at least calm down to do a pure thing.
It’s like starting a business, but not for the money.
Some failure
Even though each version now has a few steady downloads, I still have only one contributor for the product, which is dangerous for an open source project, or even a bit of a failure.
Later, I briefly reflected on it and summarized the reasons
- Incomplete project documentation leads to a higher threshold for participation
- Technical selection is not hot enough, and few people in the community are familiar with it
- Not organizing and forming a good product community to attract and cultivate talent
Unfortunately, due to my Buddhism (procrastination), I have not started to act.
It feels like you’ve been running a business for a long time, but you’re still alone.
The appendix
- Github Warehouse data online statistics, github.com/vesoft-inc/…
- MockPlus online product prototype design tool, www.mockplus.cn/
- PrettyZoo github.com/vran-dev/Pr…