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Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

plane.so

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Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#111

Post by brlewis »

elnygren wrote: post #108
dabeeeenster wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spent 10 minutes trying to get it running locally, couldn't. They suddenly mention nginx in the self hosting docs - why?! I don't understand open source projects that required you to fiddle around with scripts, environment files, reverse proxies etc to try the platform out! docker compose up should "just work" ™.

Since they have a /pricing page it would seem their business is not to make it easy to self-host but in fact to make people pay for the cloud version instead.

The best way to test this hypothesis would be to send a pull request that makes the self-hosting docs clearer. If they accept it then their business does not rely on self-hosting being hard.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#113

Post by plagiarist »

vmfunction wrote: post #85
dabeeeenster wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spent 10 minutes trying to get it running locally, couldn't. They suddenly mention nginx in the self hosting docs - why?! I don't understand open source projects that required you to fiddle around with scripts, environment files, reverse proxies etc to try the platform out! docker compose up should "just work" ™.

well some people like docker and some don't. If you are in the self-hosting realm, personally I think it is fair that the people doing it knows about DevOp or systemadmin, or else pay someone to host it for you.

Of course it is fair. Why would we consider "fair" for an open source offering trying to entice new users?

I don't want a new project, I want to try self-hosting the software. If I am using it and liking it then certainly I would put time and effort into it. If it takes some time fiddling around with docker even to use, well, I have other projects to fiddle.

That goes for all self-hosted, but especially so for a project management tool. I'd be trialing it because I have projects I already need help managing. Adding one more is friction that would likely turn me away.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#114

Post by guappa »

keep_reading wrote: post #112

I had no idea GitHub had a ranking system like this based on stars. Sounds incredibly easy to game with bots.

It is gamed with bots.

I routinely get stars from completely empty accounts that star random projects for free to avoid bot detection.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#115

Post by zoobab »

Alex3917 wrote: post #110
luke-stanley wrote: post #43

Okay it's open source but self-hosting it is not straightforward. The repo's self-hosting doc link returns a 404. Then after manually finding https://docs.plane.so/self-hosting/self-hosting , I am warned that there is a dizzying array of 4 env files. I suppose they are in a tricky situation, in that while they want to stand out as open source, actually having people easily self-host it, is perhaps, not a goal that is…

I haven't look at this particular project, but having to type the same information into multiple env files is unfortunately pretty unavoidable. Making a Docker / Django project instantiable via template and then runnable locally and deployable in production unfortunately involves 5+ different variable templating systems, which each require their variables to be declared in different files and formats.

"instantiable via template"

A simple bash template via envsubst?

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#116

Post by linsomniac »

pjmlp wrote: post #72
gureddio wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to expand?

Flexibility of custom workflows, integrations with third party systems, being able to track down tickets across the whole lifetime (documentation, source control, bug reports, who did what, reporting). Yes, it is a huge beast, because big corps have huge complex workflows.

I did notice that Plane mentioned custom workflows.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#117

Post by OJFord »

pjmlp wrote: post #72
gureddio wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to expand?

Flexibility of custom workflows, integrations with third party systems, being able to track down tickets across the whole lifetime (documentation, source control, bug reports, who did what, reporting). Yes, it is a huge beast, because big corps have huge complex workflows.

And that's what everyone else doesn't want, what makes it such a PITA to use for those that don't need it. Essentially I think anyone looking for or interested in an 'alternative to Jira' exactly doesn't want that mess to follow them away from it.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#118

Post by guappa »

martypitt wrote: post #107
prakashn27 wrote: post #100

I don’t understand why there is a pricing for open source software ? I always expect sponser link and surprised to find a pro plan for it. And GitHub stars does not matter. Period.

Github stars are a distribution channel, which leads to awareness, and drives adoption. Also, it's an informal social proof, which drives trust. The more stars, the more legit something seems.

They are for sale https://buygithub.com/product/stars/ so it is very suspicious in this case, when there is a sudden spike, a marketing blog mentioning them.

My personal experience is that most stars on my projects come from empty accounts that star random stuff to avoid getting detected when they star the projects that paid.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#119

Post by DrBazza »

luke-stanley wrote: post #43

Okay it's open source but self-hosting it is not straightforward. The repo's self-hosting doc link returns a 404. Then after manually finding https://docs.plane.so/self-hosting/self-hosting , I am warned that there is a dizzying array of 4 env files. I suppose they are in a tricky situation, in that while they want to stand out as open source, actually having people easily self-host it, is perhaps, not a goal that is…

Software installation, even for simple trials reminds me of this Stephen Hawking quote:

"Someone told me that each equation I included in the book would halve the sales. I therefore resolved not to have any equations at all. In the end, however, I did put in one equation, Einstein's famous equation, E = mc squared. I hope that this will not scare off half of my potential readers."

It just feels like that law can be adapted to: for every step and pre-requisite in your setup, you lose half your potential customers.

Of course, it's not precisely that, but it feels the same.

Re: Plane got to top spot in project management on GitHub in less than a year

#120

Post by eropple »

brlewis wrote: post #111
elnygren wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since they have a /pricing page it would seem their business is not to make it easy to self-host but in fact to make people pay for the cloud version instead.

The best way to test this hypothesis would be to send a pull request that makes the self-hosting docs clearer. If they accept it then their business does not rely on self-hosting being hard.

That's not a sufficient test, because when put under the gun there's no reason not to believe that a company playing those kinds of games won't take that pull request, temporarily improving the situation, and then simply make no effort to keep it up to date later. Addresses the temporary embarrassment, but not the underlying problem.

Mind, I don't think Plane's one of these. The open-source release seems comprehensive and the doc just seems not very good because the people who wrote it are experienced operators. But the claim being made isn't one that's easily put to rest except through the company in question committing to enthusiastic and comprehensive support that dispels doubts. (And, well--they chose that life!)

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