Ask HN: Can you start an original, open source, project without writing a line of code?

Post by nickmolnar » Tue, Nov 18, 2008, 10:24 PM UTC

nickmolnar wrote: post #10

anamax wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If everyone knows that 90% of any ensuing corporation will go to the top 6 developers on the project, they are much more likely to commit valuable resources. You're confusing "my plan will work if other people behave this way" with "other people will behave this way". Moreover, it's an open source project, so you can't say anything about "any ensuing corporation". You can only make committments for corporations tha…

Fair point. Let's assume that the only goal is to make the project go forward. All compensation and credit should be structured to further this goal. I guess 100% is the best way to structure it. Possibly even with a disclaimer saying the founder would not create any company out of the source code - but could be hired by anyone who does. The founder's role would then, simply, be an evangelist for the project(s). I th…

Maybe all that is needed is a non-binding proposal that the top 6 developers would, after the product reaches a particular milestone, band together and start a company, dividing shares however they choose.

I just think that having any plan for the future would make developers more likely to invest their scarce time.

Post by nickmolnar » Tue, Nov 18, 2008, 11:01 PM UTC

anamax wrote: post #9

nickmolnar wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's about what I was imagining. I've had people tell me that setting up the SVN, moderating discussions in a mailing list, twittering project updates, and orchestrating the cultural/public facing side of the organization are the most productive early tasks. My question is: will people start working on a project without even a line of code, or will there be paralysis until there is something to work off of?

> I've had people tell me that setting up the SVN, moderating discussions in a mailing list, twittering project updates, and orchestrating the cultural/public facing side of the organization are the most productive early tasks. If there's no code, what "project updates" are you twittering? Note that all of those things are fairly low cost, so doing them isn't much of a contribution. They may add more value than the s…

I think there is news to report every step of the way. It would start with what needs to be done, and why the project is valuable, then move on to what is being done and what milestones are being hit.

All of these are definitely low value activities; the goal would simply be to reduce administrative overhead (time, not money). That way, contributors would spend more time doing the high value work and less time on BS. The goal would also be to foster a sense of community and make it easier for new members to join and get caught up on the big-picture goals of the project.

Re: Ask HN: Can you start an original, open source, project without writing a line of code?

Re: Ask HN: Can you start an original, open source, project without writing a line of code?