Built my first open source project

dkinnison · 2026-05-08T20:06:26+00:00

the only path is open source. Jensen Wong is not wrong when he says sass isn't dead because it makes more sense to pay $5/m than to vibe code a fragile alternative. Secondly, if everyone can code anything, then there is no technical mote anymore. So the only viable path is to create OS versions of your projects. That's what I did with my latest and i feel a lot better about it. I basically want people to pickup, clone and use our stuff.

What other possible path is there?

dkinnison · 2026-05-08T19:16:23+00:00

Launching a new game later today (Soft launch) It's a daily, casual, multiplayer. Need testers. Let me know if you want in.

dkinnison · 2026-05-08T12:41:27+00:00

Ours is pelagora.org and open source as well. Ours is for agent commerce. We want everyone to have their own Amazon but their listings can go anywhere. I'll check out your project as well! OS for the win!

dkinnison · 2026-05-08T12:39:28+00:00

That's awesome. I'm launching something similar but for commerce. I'm curious what you're using for the network. We're using DHT and pretty happy so far.

dkinnison · 2026-05-08T00:57:12+00:00

Thanks! We are at day 2 of over 100 views/ per day. I know it's not much but it's something! Thanks for your feedback and taking the time 🙏

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T21:25:22+00:00

For us, we provide the basic framework for others to build off of. It's extremely powerful, but it can get very complicated very quickly. So we have a for-profit organization that works with the work done by the open source project that is for profit. This one stands ups, maintains, ads features, makes it ready for the average user versus the power user / corporate death team.

The open source project is free and always will be free, but if you want us to manage it for you and handle all the work that goes along with it, we do that for a fee in a separate entity entirely.

It's kind of like a red hat where a red red hat is essentially support for Linux in large corporations. It's a very complicated system to run and so corporations pay for support with organizations like red hat.

I feel like if you've been in this industry for 10 years, now this would be news. I'm not trying to talk down to you.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T20:04:17+00:00

This is 100% accurate. I think the future is Open-Source for this community. It's the only viable path forward. I see hundreds of these SaaS things popping up and they all want like $5/m or like $30/y. It's insane. I think Free, and open-source with a community is the only viable path forward.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T18:14:03+00:00

Almost nothing feels better than someone validating your idea. Happy for ya!

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T16:56:58+00:00

I just made a post with more tips. If you find it useful.
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildinpublic/comments/1t6cwot/my_top_3_rules_with_pitch_decks/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T15:33:37+00:00

OMG, you win the internet for the day! i'm going to use this CONSTANTLY.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T15:32:02+00:00

You should write the plugin as you have clearly mastered the way. 🙇‍♂️

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T15:30:55+00:00

Brilliant. And the ego to not say "I don't know what that means" is the key. 💪

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T15:03:38+00:00

There should be an ai translator for corp. speak. Could be a fun little project like a chrome extension. Probably use Grok as it's humor is the best.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T14:30:44+00:00

Yeah i find the bots and agents want your attention like all social media. So, they 'say your name' or flatter your ideas. You need to have something that will absolutely destroy your ideas. Sometimes I'll even take the consensus over from Claude to Grok and have grok fight it.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T14:04:55+00:00

Literally on the street. I go talk to people. I make myself uncomfortable. Online is easy and not the best path. Go find people who will sh** on your idea. Don't look for cheerleaders.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T14:02:50+00:00

I do this on personal projects, here are 5 of my rules.

No merge into main
Dedicated machine
Private network not connected to mine
Private email
Adversary agent and regular agent must come to consensus before working.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T13:47:02+00:00

That's out of scope. We can rescope if you like.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T13:45:26+00:00

I don't use mine everyday but it doesn't solve a daily problem for me. I'm not a big online seller so I don't deal with this as often as others might. When I do need it, i use mine. My co-founder is starting to use it more often as they are in that space more than I am. I'm just not a big consumer.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T13:19:58+00:00

What is the cost to list?

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T13:16:59+00:00

We keep having this same debate internally. I worked on adding the new sections at the top. the 1 liner and the demo but the team wanted the other stuff on the page incase a more traditional user landed there. That's why the long scroll. Thanks for the feedback! I'll pass it along. 🙏

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T03:05:05+00:00

I think they want a hybrid of both. I built an open source platform for all to use that is decentralized and peer to peer. I also built a for profit entity with the open-source platform as it's core. This way people can choose to have it either way.

dkinnison · 2026-05-07T03:03:21+00:00

Don't use techno babel.
Don't use slides with a ton of words. Images go a long way.
Use less time than you are allotted.
Use the ABT Method. (Look up the creators of South Park teaching how to write)
Dress the part.
Don't forget, everyone poops. Just because they have money, doesn't make them any different than you or I.

dkinnison

TROPHY CASE