6 ms·

I remember a post earlier today about how open source projects needed better marketing. prime example. I had to dive in to know what was the project all about..

I remember a post earlier today about how open source projects needed better marketing. prime example. I had to dive in to know what was the project all about...

pizza 10y ago
When one OP's piqued curiosity meets HN's hype machine, hilarity / project management philosophy advice ensues. Fun for the whole team!
- striking 10y ago
  Whatever piece of media this is a description of, I'll buy 20.
spankalee 10y ago
That appears to be on purpose.
ocdtrekkie 10y ago
I am pretty sure the Fuchsia devs were not planning on being (slightly more) famous today.
stingraycharles 10y ago
This appears to be a somewhat informative page to link to: https://github.com/littlekernel/lk/wiki https://github.com/littlekernel/lk/wiki I had to find it buried inside the magenta repository somewhere. It's hard to piece together what this project is all about, indeed.
aiyodev 10y ago
The problem isn't marketing. It's culture. While there are many benefits to free and open source software it encourages a take-it-or-leave-it attitude where software is released that's user unfriendly, full of bugs, and has little to no documentation. If someone dare ask about a problem they are having, often the closest thing to help they receive is "Why didn't you just use [esoteric Linux command]? Are you an idiot?"
- xlayn 10y ago
  It depends on the forum/group. For example I've been a more active member on XDA for Cyanogen mod and I did a rude comment; I got my attention immediately called and the maintainer respond the question, same goes for HN. OTOH... the Linux kernel group it's probably a "little bit" tougher....
- jdoliner 10y ago
  Maybe the cultural problem is actually that people like you expect open source projects to be like companies except that you don't have to give them money? Most open source code is written by someone because they want it and then they release it so others can see the code. Of course there's a take-it-or-leave-it attitude... why would they care if you take it? They don't get anything if you take it, you taking it was never their goal. You're just some entitled guy on the internet who decided he wanted to use the software, had a problem and now thinks the developer should do some free work for him.
  - Larrikin 10y ago
    Maybe with a little help understanding it, more people would be able to contribute more back.
  - calinet6 10y ago
    There's a problem somewhere in the system of open source and the people who use it, and everyone above me provided many examples of dysfunction. It's dysfunction of a system with a very unclear reward framework, primarily centered around curiosity, pride, and drive. Developers want to build something they consider good; often they want to build something that others will find good and use, and there's intrinsic value and joy in that for them: not all developers are selfish, many do it for others. Users find their creation fascinating and good, if not better than anything out there; users who are programmers both demand more goodness and contribute of their own accord, making a kind of trade in kind. Users who are not programmers or not skilled enough (by no fault of their own) are using it out of necessity or because it is good, but due to the disconnects in the method of creation, it's not inherently good in ways that users expect, and it could be seen as helpful or at least informative to give the creators an idea of how this pridefully created thing could be made better and help more people. This is natural. No one owes anyone anything; this is all just unavoidable human behavior and psychology. It is not a particular group or person's fault that this convoluted system is not effective. But the wise will look beyond the individual needs and wants of the actors and help find ways to improve how the Open Source paradigm—the system itself—can be improved.
abrookewood 10y ago
It's a Google project with non-public members, so maybe it has only recently been opened up and before that it was subject to secrecy. https://flutter.io/ https://flutter.io/

I remember a post earlier today about how open source projects needed better marketing. prime example. I had to dive in to know what was the project all about...

pizza 10y ago

When one OP's piqued curiosity meets HN's hype machine, hilarity / project management philosophy advice ensues. Fun for the whole team!

striking 10y ago
Whatever piece of media this is a description of, I'll buy 20.

spankalee 10y ago

That appears to be on purpose.

ocdtrekkie 10y ago

I am pretty sure the Fuchsia devs were not planning on being (slightly more) famous today.

stingraycharles 10y ago

This appears to be a somewhat informative page to link to: https://github.com/littlekernel/lk/wiki https://github.com/littlekernel/lk/wiki I had to find it buried inside the magenta repository somewhere. It's hard to piece together what this project is all about, indeed.

aiyodev 10y ago

The problem isn't marketing. It's culture. While there are many benefits to free and open source software it encourages a take-it-or-leave-it attitude where software is released that's user unfriendly, full of bugs, and has little to no documentation. If someone dare ask about a problem they are having, often the closest thing to help they receive is "Why didn't you just use [esoteric Linux command]? Are you an idiot?"

xlayn 10y ago
It depends on the forum/group. For example I've been a more active member on XDA for Cyanogen mod and I did a rude comment; I got my attention immediately called and the maintainer respond the question, same goes for HN. OTOH... the Linux kernel group it's probably a "little bit" tougher....
jdoliner 10y ago
Maybe the cultural problem is actually that people like you expect open source projects to be like companies except that you don't have to give them money? Most open source code is written by someone because they want it and then they release it so others can see the code. Of course there's a take-it-or-leave-it attitude... why would they care if you take it? They don't get anything if you take it, you taking it was never their goal. You're just some entitled guy on the internet who decided he wanted to use the software, had a problem and now thinks the developer should do some free work for him.
- Larrikin 10y ago
  Maybe with a little help understanding it, more people would be able to contribute more back.
- calinet6 10y ago
  There's a problem somewhere in the system of open source and the people who use it, and everyone above me provided many examples of dysfunction. It's dysfunction of a system with a very unclear reward framework, primarily centered around curiosity, pride, and drive. Developers want to build something they consider good; often they want to build something that others will find good and use, and there's intrinsic value and joy in that for them: not all developers are selfish, many do it for others. Users find their creation fascinating and good, if not better than anything out there; users who are programmers both demand more goodness and contribute of their own accord, making a kind of trade in kind. Users who are not programmers or not skilled enough (by no fault of their own) are using it out of necessity or because it is good, but due to the disconnects in the method of creation, it's not inherently good in ways that users expect, and it could be seen as helpful or at least informative to give the creators an idea of how this pridefully created thing could be made better and help more people. This is natural. No one owes anyone anything; this is all just unavoidable human behavior and psychology. It is not a particular group or person's fault that this convoluted system is not effective. But the wise will look beyond the individual needs and wants of the actors and help find ways to improve how the Open Source paradigm—the system itself—can be improved.

abrookewood 10y ago

It's a Google project with non-public members, so maybe it has only recently been opened up and before that it was subject to secrecy. https://flutter.io/ https://flutter.io/