How To Spread Word About My FOSS Project?

An anonymous reader writes "I'm in a bit of a bind with an open source web software project of mine. It's a very small project that I've been developing for over three years. By now it's got a promising feature set, but very few users and virtually no community around it. The problem is that people I have asked to try it refuse to do so because it doesn't have a thriving community. It's an infinite loop: without users, we won't have a community, and without a community, users aren't coming. So, Slashdot, my question is: how can I build a community and help get the word out about a project led by 2 people and with only 5-6 regulars on our forum and IRC?"

Comments

Talk to your users

[alain94040]

1. Developers are king. If you could attract one more developer, your project would stand a much higher chance of success.

2. Just because you open-sourced your project doesn't mean it's useful to anyone. No matter how much we geeks don't like marketing, you have to think hard about your users: where are they, what do they care about and what do they really need?

It's normal for all new projects to languish for a while. If you think twitter was an instant success, remember that it had 2 years of null traffic before taking off. Go out and ask users what they want. Think. Then implement. Your #1 potential mistake today: feature creep. Don't think that if only you added this one more feature, the crowds would come. If anything, try to simplify things :-) and start communicating (posting on slashdot is not ideal, you should post wherever your users are, not talk to developers).

Re:Talk to your users

[Walker_Boh_Druid]

In the same post you say devs are king, and attracting them is key, then go on to say that posting on /. is a bad idea. Contradicting yourself much?

Re:Talk to your users

[Razalhague]

If you look carefully, you might notice that the project is neither named nor linked. It's kind of hard to attract devs that way.

Re:Talk to your users

[Bigjeff5]

You didn't do well in reading comprehension in school, I'm guessing.

The poster asked about attracting users. MOST of the GP's post was regarding attracting users. Slashdot really doesn't make a very good advertising vehicle for attracting new users, it's a one-shot deal and that's pretty much it. Plus, most Slashdot folks are going to do exactly as he described - they'll say "hey that looks neet, but I don't want to mess with it if it doesn't have a good community", and with only one shot to make an impression you are likely to get pitifully few new users. Getting involved in a general OSS user's forum is a much better idea, as you can build a presence and start attracting users in spite of a lack of community.

For the exact same reasons, Slashdot is probably mediocre at best for attracting developers. However, getting involved in a good sized OSS developer's forum would be a great place to both advertise to try to attract new developers and to get more advice about getting your project out in the open.

Re:Talk to your users

[B'Trey]

It's also kind of hard to answer the question asked without knowing much about the software involved. We know it's a web project of some kind, but that doesn't do much to narrow things down. If it's a web application framework like Rails then promoting it would be a very different task than if it's a blog publishing application like Wordpress. Hopefully, it's not an exact duplicate of some other common open source project, of course. If, however, it does perform the same function as another well known program, particularly a closed source one, you might want to start by listing it on AlternativeTo.

Re:Talk to your users

[timmarhy]

spot on. no one wants to commit to using software that will disappear if you get hit by a bus.

Re:Talk to your users

[mattack2]

I suspect they purposefully didn't give a link to it or name it, so that the thread wouldn't be perceived as an ad, and would simply be looking for general advice that could be applicable to others.

Re:Talk to your users

[adamkennedy]

Last time my project got mentioned on Slashdot, I saw around 50,000 additional downloads for that release.

So even if it's one-shot, that one-shot can still be big.

It's simple

[sopssa]

Ignoring asking about it on the Ask Slashdot section (which you intelligently avoided);

Get friendlier with the people that are interested in the project. Not just answering their questions, but actually become a friend with them. Then ask them to do the same to other people. And get friendlier with many of them. It works in real life circles and it works in computer circles - some people are just going to lose interest no matter what you do, so you're better of getting to know as many people as you know (as you're better of getting to know as many girls as possible)

Spreading word about FOSS project is actually no different than what it is in the real world. Charisma, getting people to work with you and having a reason to do so. We would all like everything to be just on mere technical terms, but it really isn't so. Learning to interact with people the best way goes a long way - in business world, in FOSS world, with girls.

Re:It's simple

[SQLGuru]

And some product, no matter how great they are at what they do will never appeal to a large crowd because of the focus. For instance, anyone maintaining a FOSS project targetting left-handed fim-bozzles will only ever appeal to people interested in left-handed fim-bozzles not matter how good of a product your FOSS iLHFB app is. Making friends will help it grow, but making friends with left-handed fim-bozzle enthusiasts will help your project grow even more.

Re:It's simple

[humphrm]

Very good point. And I would add one additional suggestion: go to open source conventions. I'm not going to name any, dare I get labeled a shill, but it's been my experience at open source cons that people with very narrow scope tend to run into other people with very narrow scope at these events. If possible, get on the con's speaker list, and talk about your product. People who aren't interested will skip the talk, but then you'll end up with a room where all the attendees *are* interested in your product. Great networking potential!

Of course, that's just one way to go about it, there are many other valid suggestions here that you should do as well, not just one.

Re:It's simple

[0100010001010011]

Last time I got "friendlier" with one of my users I got into a law suit.

Re:It's simple

[MrMadnutz]

Last time I got "friendlier" with one of my users I got engaged!

This would have been a great start

[stoolpigeon]

If there were any info. on what the project is and where to check it out. (I realize a lot of people would have made snarky comments if that info had been included too. A regular catch 22 -- but this is a great opportunity and you should post a description and link to the project in this thread.)

Without any specifics I would think most answers are going to be just as generic. Post about it in different message boards, post about it at aggregator type sites (reddit, digg) - use twitter, facebook or whatever else might help people find out about it.

Who are the intended users? Where would those people be that you might show up and promote your project? Are their user groups that might be a good place to frequent?

Would a publication/site that deals with FOSS or whatever problem your project solves be interested in doing a write-up? Will they accept one from someone on the project or one of the users?

If it runs on Linux is it available through the package management systems of the major distros?

Tell us what it's called...

[hhappy]

some of us might be interested in it. You've just missed your best PR opportunity yet!

Re:Tell us what it's called...

[Galestar]

Some of us might be interested, other might consider it shameless self promotion. If slashdot was doing front page adverts for every tiny FOSS project, we'd never hear any real news.

Re:Tell us what it's called...

[natehoy]

I disagree. I think he's doing it perfectly.

He's asked a generic question, without shilling in the article section. That means it's less likely he's just out spamming, because he hasn't identified who he is or what the project is. So he's largely avoided the shitstorm of angry slashdotters accusing him of spamming.

But in doing so, he's piqued the curiosity of a few of us, and we've ASKED him to post details of his project now. If he does so, that means he's actually spent a few minutes here reading the responses. This marks him as someone who at least isn't doing a drive-by spamming.

Either very good and sophisticated marketing, or an honest question from a manager of a small project. I can't decide which. But either way, it works, and I'm curious about the project.

Re:Tell us what it's called...

[Anonymous Coward]

Some of us might be interested, other might consider it shameless self promotion. If slashdot was doing front page adverts for every tiny FOSS project, we'd never hear any real news.

So, kind'a like now? :)

Re:Tell us what it's called...

[Random Destruction]

By googling his name, the project appears to be. Enano CMS

Re:Tell us what it's called...

[rincebrain]

I'm genuinely curious how you produced an AC's name.

Re:Tell us what it's called...

[dandaman32]

I was betting on my ability to remember to hit "post anonymously" every time I commented on this thread.
Note to self: in the future, hit "log out." x_x

Re:Post to Slashdot!

[rtfa-troll]

I'd agree, except it might help to a) not post Anonymously b) include a link to the project in the posting c) say what it does and why it would be good for us. If you do none of the above, then the reason why your project is unheard of becomes obvious.

Re:Easy

[BlindSpot]

Nope, Slashdot is actually an exception to the three-phase model, because this is what happens:

1) Post a message to Slashdot
2) Get Slashdotted
3) Spend all potential profits on bandwidth charges

freshmeat

[mrflash818]

Try posting to freshmeat?

http://freshmeat.net/about

Re:freshmeat

[Anonymous Coward]

ohloh is another good place to have your project linked. Shows the development activity, which counts to some people when choosing between multiple projects in the same niche.

Re:Post to Slashdot!

[tnk1]

Agreed. Even if 99/100 people say "this project is useless", "you suck as a coder", or they just flagrantly troll you, if you inform even one person who says to themselves "I sure wish someone had an open sourced lolcats generator" that you, in fact, have a feature rich and maturing open sourced lolcats generator, you are still increasing your community by a significant percentage.

Re:Easy

[nmb3000]

1) Post a message to slashdot
2) ????
3) Profit

Except in this rare case the mystery step 2 is easy to identify:

1) Post a message to slashdot
2) Include a link to your project
3) Profit!

Just time...

[ZDRuX]

Like some have already said, time is your only enemy. Websites that need numbers to thrive take time. It is like a snow-ball effect, at first you'll have only 4-5 people (probably your friends), but that friend will tell the next person, and you'll be up to 10 users, and so on and so forth. Eventually it'll grow on its own without any need for intervention from your side.

My bittorrent tracker took probably 6 months before it started taking off thanks to word of mouth. Now maxed out at 8,000 users and that's only because of server limitations. Perseverence and waiting is your only choice at this point.

And remember, your only chance of making it ahead of others is offering something that nobody does, so ask yourself what *new* are you bringing to the playing field? If the answer is "not much" then I'm afraid you'll have a tough time.

And like others said, you failed to list your website, which was a big mistake - don't worry about looking like you're trying to use ./ as a way to promote, it's obvious you are - so USE IT!

Re:Seriously

[Eudial]

You have a crew of nerds here who are all about open source and you refer to your project as "an open source web software project of mine" and are asking for more users?!

You must be new here.

It's kinda sad that you didn't put it in the summary, as others pointed out before me, you really did miss out. Good luck getting it in in the comments, everybody who skims the summaries won't even see it...

If he -had- posted it in the article, 70% of the comments would berate him for slashvertisement. So it's a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Heh.

[lattyware]

I like how when there is a slashvertisement, everyone bitches.
This guy sidesteps, and everyone is complaining because there isn't a slashvertisement. Oh the irony.

Re:Slashvertisement Fail

[Razalhague]

So, it's like... an actual question? On "Ask Slashdot"?! Wow.

Open Source Development HOWTO

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Introduction

   As everyone knows, Open Source software is the wave of the future. With the market share of GNU/Linux and *BSD increasing every day, interest in Open Source Software is at an all time high.

   Developing software within the Open Source model benefits everyone. People can take your code, improve it and then release it back to the community. This cycle continues and leads to the creation of far more stable software than the 'Closed Source' shops can ever hope to create.

   So you're itching to create that Doom 3 killer but don't know where to start? Read on!

2. First Steps

   The most important thing that any Open Source project needs is a Sourceforge page. There are tens of thousands of successful Open Source projects on Sourceforge.Net; the support you receive here will be invaluable.

   OK, so you've registered your Sourceforge.Net project and set the status to '0: Pre-Thinking About It', what's next?

3. Don't Waste Time!

   Now you need to set up your SourceForge.net homepage. Keep it plain and simple - don't use too many HTML tags, just knock something up in VI. Website editors like Expression Web and DreamWeaver just create bloated eye-candy - you need to get your message to the masses!

4. Ask For Help

   Since you probably can't program at all you'll need to try and find some people who think they can. If your project is a game you'll probably need an artist too. Ask for help on your new Sourceforge pages. Here is an example to get you started:

   "Hi there! Welcom to my SorceForge page! I am planing to create a Fisrt Person Shooter game for Linux that is going to kick Doom 3's ass! I have loads of awesome ideas, like giant robotic spiders! I need some help thouh as I cant program or draw. If you can program or draw the tekstures please get in touch! K thx bye!"

   Thousands of talented programmers and artists hang out at Sourceforge.net ready to devote their time to projects so you should get a team together in no time!

5. The A-Team

   So now you have your team together you are ready to change your projects status to '1: Pre-Bickering'. You will need to discuss your ideas with your team mates and see what value they can add to the project. You could use an Instant Messaging program like MSN for this, but since you run Linux you'll have to stick to e-mail.

   Don't forget that YOU are in charge! If your team doesn't like the idea of giant robotic spiders just delete them from the project and move on. Someone else can fill their place and this is the beauty of Open Source development. The code might end up a bit messy and the graphics inconsistant - but it's still 'Free as in Speech'!

6. Getting Down To It

   Now that you've found a team of right thinking people you're ready to start development. Be prepared for some delays though. Programming is a craft and can take years to learn. Your programmer may be a bit rusty but will probably be writing "hello world" programs after school in no time.

   Closed Source games like Doom 3 use the graphics card to do all the hard stuff anyhow, so your programmer will just have to get the NVidia 'API' and it will be plain sailing! Giant robot spiders, here we come!

7. The Outcome

   So it's been a few years, you still have no files released or in CVS. Your programmer can't get enough time on the PC because his mother won't let him use it after 8pm. Your artist has run off with a Thai She-Male. Your project is still at '1: Pre-Bickering'...

   Congratulations! You now have a successful Open Source project on Sourceforge.net! Pat yourself on the back, think up another idea and do it all again! See how simple it is?

Make it do something useful

[takowl]

I've been involved with a project which fitted this description almost perfectly: FOSS webapp which was dependent on a community it never really had. I almost thought the question could be about it, until I visited its page to find that it's being closed down. It may sound obvious, but I think what really did for that project was that it didn't do anything people could already do. Specifically, a large part of its functionality was replicating things that Facebook did, and maybe 99% of its target users were on Facebook. Without a compelling reason to use it, it never really took off, and the developers weren't enthused enough to create the grand new features that had been planned.

Getting critical mass in the first place is hard. I wonder if there's any stories out there about how Facebook/Myspace/Twitter first got started. As others have said, you'll need to sell it to your friends first, then work at keeping them happy until they're happy to recommend it to their friends. Perhaps focus at first on the non-social aspects of the site, that don't depend on community, then be ready to shift to a more social model once you've got a couple of dozen users. An empty forum is just depressing, but some old-fashioned content is useful even for the very first visitor.

Oh, and since everyone's busy berating you for not giving the name: well done on not Slashvertising! Although I admit I'm also curious about it.

My suggestions.

[Tei]

Have good documentations, screenshots, maybe a video. A good website (cms + nice theme, maybe).
Then, wen you do big releases, poke the bloggers or news posters about it. People like to read news.
You can even poke the news-guys if you have something interesting, fun, amazing, to show.

And wen you give articles to news-guys, make these article very good. avoid spell errors, use your better english, etc.. your text must be perfect. This really help these people, and your opportunities, everyone.

Maybe the problem is not the community?

[Ekuryua]

Am I the only to think that if a project doesn't get a grip at all it's MAYBE because it is not that useful to people? In my experience, projects do benefit from a community boost, but 90% of the work is still having a useful application that people desire.

The sad fact is...

[simaul]

For every successful FOSS project there are
hundreds of wannabes. Most are ignored, and
rightfully so. Yours might be different... you
do have more than just yourself involved.

But so often one hears the whine, "won't someone
please join my little project" and there's just
nothing there worth looking at. Could this be you?

PSST!

[TheSHAD0W]

Hey you! Open source developer! This is your chance! Post the name of your project and pretend you posted the original question!

Or ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Or imprisoned for murdering your wife.

Its called marketing.

[jellomizer]

The fact the product is Open Source or free will not get any thing out...

Lets figure out some things...
The 5C's
Customer or for your case you end users what is you app targeted for Corporate users or end users.
Company or your OSS group that has developed the software what are your values why do you want the product to grow what makes your group better then most
Context what itch are you trying to scratch. Does it solve a problem
Collaborators who do you need to work with to make your program run. Is it linux only or does it work on windows... Do you need 3rd party tools to run it. Do you have any people who are willing to push your product.
Competitors Sure you may have some cool new features but are they better then what the other Open Source tools have... Are there closed source application that do the same thing you do. If so how do you defend against any advantages.

Next is the STP
Segmentation What is the product the best fit for.
Targeting Really push to the people the product is the best fit for. If they prefer a closed source solution or a big name you will be wasting your time. However there are other people who want you app in the open source form.
Positioning make sure you make your product to really show off what it needs to do for your targeted group of people

The 4P
Product what is your product what does it do
Price Sure it is open source and it is free are you going to offer consulting or support services if so how much are you going to charge.
Place What will be your range you want the product to first go out
Promotions Well if you are going to do consulting for your product you might as well add some Linux support too.

These is Marketing 101 in a nutshell.
Basic marketing isn't trying to trick people into getting your product but finding where people would like your product.

Sure your product may not have a big following that is ok there are a lot of small software companies to make software to a lot of big players. I myself when I worked as a consultant myself made software for many large companies that was custom for them even if there was Open Source alternatives I created code and documentation for them so the code is theirs and with No strings attached.

For Open Source tools the trick is to make sure that you are willing to back it up and if fail it is possible for others to pick it up.

Open Source Projects do die sometimes so do closed source product. However there are people making closed source products and selling them. The fact that it is open source and has a small comunity isn't an excuse. You just need to market the product

Ah-HAH! YACMS!

[gdek]

*Now* we know why no one's using your open source project -- because it's Yet Another CMS!

If you're trying to drive a new project in a space that already has a clear incumbent, you're in for a tough climb.

If you're trying to drive a new project in a space that already has several clear incumbents, you're in for a *really* tough climb.

If you're trying to drive a new project in a space that already has several clear incumbents and hundreds of failures, you're in for... ...well, you see where I'm going here.

I'm sure your CMS is different. It's sensitive and nurturing and really cares about me in a way that those other CMSes don't, and would never throw me out of the car for getting drunk at Andy's party that night. I get it. But when you're competing against the Star Quarterback of CMS projects, you *must* define what is unique about your project, and you must *market* that uniqueness. And you'd better be right, too -- because otherwise, you can forget about getting a date to the CMS prom.

My project seems pretty successful

[mrjb]

I run a small project about the age of yours, and it has a user base of several thousand users. It started out as a Linux alternative to a piece of commercial software. I believe the following has contributed to its success:

- I joined the existing community forums
- Made sure the software doesn't suck. I started by giving a few distinguishing features that the commercial software simply doesn't offer (data recovery, allowing the use of low cost hardware rather than $200 commercial hardware) giving it an edge over the commercial offering. Many of the distinguishing features were features *I* needed, so others likely did too.
- Made sure my project was cross-platform; although I started it as a Linux project, the majority of the user base are Windows and Mac users.
- I went on to make sure my software can do *everything* that the commercial software does.
- I did set up a website asking for feedback, feature suggestions etc. which is a great source of inspiration for new features.
- ...and so are complaints about the commercial software.
- To be fair, the commercial software is no longer being developed (but it's still being sold!), which means by now Windows 7 users are starting to have trouble running it. But in any case, I'm not dealing with a moving target.
- I never worried about Google, but I did make sure to mention the link to the software on the forum if someone asked a question that the software resolved. Eventually, word of mouth got out and people outside the forum started posting the link as well.

So basically, rather than building up a new community from scratch, I built on top of an existing one. It's terribly hard to sell a fax machine if nobody else has one; but if there is a community of fax machine users out there, maybe you can build better fax machines than the company that created the market.

Finally, if nobody hears about your project, nobody will check it out. Why didn't you mention the name of your project or link to it?