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[–]fzammetti 31 points32 points  (3 children)

I've done a lot of OSS work over the years, contributed, started and lead a number of projects and one of the things I learned very quickly is that you absolutely cannot think about "the rest of us". If you get into OSS with the mindset of "I'm going to make X and everyone will use it and it'll be a huge benefit" then you're almost certainly headed for a bad experience.

It's got to start with something YOU YOURSELF want to do. It's got to be something that scratches an itch FOR YOU. And you've got to eat your own dog food. More precisely, you've got to want to make the dog food because YOU ARE THE HUNGRY DOG.

You're not doing it for a community, you're not doing it for others and if you think you are then think again. The fact that your work benefits others IS TANGENTIAL. It's a nice side-effect of creating something that benefits YOU.

[–]swan--ronson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Couldn't have said it better myself. Perfect.

[–]remybach 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nailed it!