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Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I probably do share too little, and I get too discouraged when reddit downvotes my stuff to oblivion. > Next time you build a pro

by exDM69 10y ago

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I probably do share too little, and I get too discouraged when reddit downvotes my stuff to oblivion. > Next time you build a product try to post it online everywhere like Reddit and Show HN. I'm sure you'll gain more confidence and experience from it. Here's the problem, I never "build a product". My free time is not nearly enough to build a proper product that would a) be fun for me to write b) interesting enough for the general public. Basically the best I can do is show a few screenshots or a few hundred lines of interesting code. In my experience, that's not enough to gain traction on Show HN or Reddit. Sometimes I share screenshots on IRC and do get some interesting follow-up discussions but that doesn't really help me to get these projects any further. Maybe I should gather up the courage and start posting to reddit /r/gamedev "screenshot saturdays" threads for getting feedback and encouragement. Although I'm not really doing a game here. But yeah, I mostly try to not think about the idea that I'll never finish these projects and have fun while hacking on them. I've been doing this for 20 years now and never really "shipped" anything, so I might as well stop worrying about finishing and just have fun.

ryandrake 10y ago
Wow, I was going to write my own story of putzing around with side projects here, but yours matches it perfectly. I've got a local repo with probably dozens of 50-100% completed hobby projects, but I don't really release anything. I used to release stuff but then it becomes a maintenance pain. Users don't get that this is a hobby for you, and don't understand why you don't respond and fix right this minute. This is especially true for free projects. I currently work full time for a company whose policy forbids releasing anything I work on in my free time, so it's kind of nice--the decision is pretty much made for me. I guess the advice is learn to _finish_ things but don't get too hung up on releasing them. Unless you're trying to build a business in which case you need to follow a totally different path (release MVP early, get feedback, iterate, market fit, etc.).
- exDM69 10y ago
  Yeah, I stopped working on "infrastructure" utility libraries and similar projects because the maintenance burden is too high. Some people just don't get it - I'm not in it to provide a free service to anyone. Luckily I live in a country where the law doesn't allow an employer to forbid releasing projects done on free time, so I don't have your issue. I would seriously reconsider my employment if I were given such restrictions. As little as I finish stuff, the ability to share and receive feedback from strangers in the internet is still positive to me.
- watwut 10y ago
  Out of curiosity, how did they pressured on you and which community was it in (linux/frontend/java/python/etc)? Many project I seen (and used) seem to be abandoned after a while or are maintained slowly, so you not being able to maintain long term seems pretty much standard to me.
  - ryandrake 10y ago
    Mostly free iOS apps.
khedoros1 10y ago
> Basically the best I can do is show a few screenshots or a few hundred lines of interesting code. I've got some similar projects: An NES emulator that I play with optimizations in, and a bunch of utilities related to the game Ultima Underworld, which are basically waiting to be plugged into an as-yet-unwritten game engine. There's some interesting code (both mine, and disassembled code from the original game binaries), but the shiny, attractive parts are spread thin. Plus, if I had external pressure to work on these things, I feel like they'd lose some of their interest. Part of why I like them is that they're impractical projects that I can putter around in occasionally, when the muse strikes.

by exDM69 10y ago

ryandrake 10y ago

Wow, I was going to write my own story of putzing around with side projects here, but yours matches it perfectly. I've got a local repo with probably dozens of 50-100% completed hobby projects, but I don't really release anything. I used to release stuff but then it becomes a maintenance pain. Users don't get that this is a hobby for you, and don't understand why you don't respond and fix right this minute. This is especially true for free projects. I currently work full time for a company whose policy forbids releasing anything I work on in my free time, so it's kind of nice--the decision is pretty much made for me. I guess the advice is learn to _finish_ things but don't get too hung up on releasing them. Unless you're trying to build a business in which case you need to follow a totally different path (release MVP early, get feedback, iterate, market fit, etc.).

exDM69 10y ago
Yeah, I stopped working on "infrastructure" utility libraries and similar projects because the maintenance burden is too high. Some people just don't get it - I'm not in it to provide a free service to anyone. Luckily I live in a country where the law doesn't allow an employer to forbid releasing projects done on free time, so I don't have your issue. I would seriously reconsider my employment if I were given such restrictions. As little as I finish stuff, the ability to share and receive feedback from strangers in the internet is still positive to me.
watwut 10y ago
Out of curiosity, how did they pressured on you and which community was it in (linux/frontend/java/python/etc)? Many project I seen (and used) seem to be abandoned after a while or are maintained slowly, so you not being able to maintain long term seems pretty much standard to me.
- ryandrake 10y ago
  Mostly free iOS apps.

khedoros1 10y ago

> Basically the best I can do is show a few screenshots or a few hundred lines of interesting code. I've got some similar projects: An NES emulator that I play with optimizations in, and a bunch of utilities related to the game Ultima Underworld, which are basically waiting to be plugged into an as-yet-unwritten game engine. There's some interesting code (both mine, and disassembled code from the original game binaries), but the shiny, attractive parts are spread thin. Plus, if I had external pressure to work on these things, I feel like they'd lose some of their interest. Part of why I like them is that they're impractical projects that I can putter around in occasionally, when the muse strikes.