What’s one thing you wish you had known before open-sourcing your first project?
Rahul Rajagopal
20 replies
Hey everyone! 👋
Open source has become a big and important approach, helping developers, startups, and communities build incredible tools together.
But open-sourcing a project isn't just about uploading code to GitHub—there are plenty of challenges, surprises, and lessons along the way, right??.
For those who have open-sourced a project, what’s the one thing you wish you had known before starting?
Was it about managing contributions?
Dealing with feature requests?
Setting boundaries for free vs. paid versions?
Licensing challenges?
Or maybe just understanding the time commitment it takes to maintain a thriving open-source project?
Let’s share insights and experiences to help others in the community who might be considering open-sourcing their projects.
Looking forward to hearing your stories and advice! 🚀
Replies
M S Sulthan@m_s_sulthan
CodeDesign.ai
One thing I learned the hard way was how crucial it is to have well-defined policies from the start—contribution guidelines, a code of conduct, and clear licensing terms. They set expectations, protect the project legally, and create a welcoming environment for contributors. Policies are the backbone of sustainable open-source projects!
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The power of community in any open source is something that I wish I knew a bit earlier. It's incredible how much a strong, engaged community can contribute—whether it’s through bug fixes, feature suggestions, or simply supporting the project. For example, with Sparrow, we've seen how a dedicated community of developers and users can help push the project forward, offering valuable feedback and contributing to its growth. Building that community early on really helps sustain the project and bring it to the next level!
CodeDesign.ai
@anmol_kushwah thank you for sharing your experience! sounds amazing that strong community helps in driving the product to the next level.
how did you go about building up the community, especially on early stage? is there some specific strategies?
Before open-sourcing my project, I didn't realize how crucial licensing would be.
CodeDesign.ai
@thomas_turner4 Agree... licensing is such a critical aspect. Without it, projects risk misuse or legal issues. I remember reading about how early versions of React faced backlash over their license terms. Facebook initially used a license similar to BSD but later switched to MIT after Apache raised concerns about banning React
Managing contributions was a bigger challenge than I thought.
At first, I thought it was just about the code, but then I realized managing and prioritizing those request took a whole different mindset.
CodeDesign.ai
@ariel_benson a lot more effort and challenging right?
It's easy to underestimate how much effort goes into reviewing and merging changes, especially when the community grows. 😅
For me, managing contributions was a bit overwelming at first.
CodeDesign.ai
@frances_diazon Did you use any tools or processes to streamline it over time?
something I didn’t anticipate was how much time I’d spend on managing expectations
A good roadmap for future features helped me retain contributors and keep people excited.
CodeDesign.ai
@_evan_washington giving the project a clear direction, as well as keeping the community and contributors motivated and excited. Thats a great point!
I had no idea how much personal time it would take to maintain an open-source projects.
CodeDesign.ai
@conor_thomson and as the project grows, it can be incredibly time consuming right!? Do you use any tools which helped you manage the workload better ?
Before I started, I didn't realize how much planning goes into defining the project's goals. It wasn't just about writing code, but making sure the direction stayed clear
I should have put more time into detailed instructions and examples for others.
One thing I wasn't prepared for was how much feedback I get!