DonationCoder.com forum
 
Read-only archive. This is a static copy of the DonationCoder.com forum. Reading and searching work as before; logging in, posting and private messages do not.
Archive of 2026-10-21 · About this archive · Main site

Author Topic: Starting an open source software project  (Read 7,869 times)

40hz

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 11,861
Starting an open source software project
« on: January 16, 2013, 01:37 PM »
Excellent Smashing Magazine article by Nick Zakas and Nicole Sullivan - creators of CSS Lint - on what's involved in starting and running a real FOSS project.

Quote
At Velocity 2011, Nicole Sullivan and I introduced CSS Lint, the first code-quality tool for CSS. We had spent the previous two weeks coding like crazy, trying to create an application that was both useful for end users and easy to modify. Neither of us had any experience launching an open-source project like this, and we learned a lot through the process.

After some initial missteps, the project finally hit a groove, and it now regularly get compliments from people using and contributing to CSS Lint. It’s actually not that hard to create a successful open-source project when you stop to think about your goals.

These days, it seems that anybody who writes a piece of code ends up pushing it to GitHub with an open-source license and says, “I’ve open-sourced it.” Creating an open-source project isn’t just about making your code freely available to others.

The article has some good discussion of several open licenses and what they mean from a developer and project perspective. A must read for anybody not already familiar with how these things actually work.

Read the full article here.

Additional links:
CSS Lint website
CSS Lint on GitHub
« Last Edit: January 16, 2013, 02:03 PM by 40hz »

kyrathaba

  • N.A.N.Y. Organizer
  • Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 3,200
    • Participated in NANY Challenge Eight Times
    • Programming School - Deluxe Bonus Medal
    • Programming School - Stage 1 Medal
    • Coding Snacks
    • Military Service Badge - US Army
    • Writer
Re: Starting an open source software project
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2013, 05:57 PM »
Thanks 40. Marked the full article to be read soon...
Win 10 Pro running on a 3.2 GHz CPU and 12 Gb RAM
__________________________________________

Proofreading Service: http://williammillerservices.com/proofreading

mouser

  • First Author
  • Administrator
  • Joined in 2005
  • *****
  • Posts: 40,931
    • Gathering Badge
    • Plugin Coding Medal
    • Participated in NANY Challenge Seventeen Times
    • Cody Award
    • Coding Snacks
    • Volunteers/Staff
Re: Starting an open source software project
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2013, 06:21 PM »
Thanks for this. :up:

Original address: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=33706.0