id like to ask if there is some guideline/advice for asking for open source contributions.

initially i thought i could just have open source code, documentation and communicate about it, but that doesnt seem to work for gaining contributors.

maybe there is something else im overlooking?

contributors would be using their own valuable time and effort so it could just be that my projects are not interesting enough. it might be worth concluding that i should proceed on this solo.

  • xoronOP
    5·
    4 days ago

    thanks for the tips.

    i typically mention the git repo’s involved.

    i’ll give it a go with something like contribution welcome. my projects are on github and i think i have something setup for issues tracking.

    i suspect my projects might be a bit complicated and so unappealing to a random contributor.

      • xoronOP
        5·
        4 days ago

        ive tried several variations in how to communicate about it.

        with blog link/with repo link/with a mix

        https://programming.dev/post/21417457

        it seems my projects are well recieved, but i guess it just isnt interesting for the minority of developers that would consider contributing. i also dont explicitly ask for contribution. this post this the first time im doing that to see what it could yield.

        • FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world
          3·
          4 days ago

          Your project sounds interesting and quite niche. Although it’s presented well it’s not something I’d immediately be inspired to contribute to, but there’s nothing wrong with the project itself. What problem is it solving? Who’s going to save time using it? Perhaps include a scenario so that people who aren’t immediately familiar ‘get’ what it is you’re achieving?

          • xoronOP
            2·
            2 days ago

            thanks for your thoughts!

            a scenario so that people who aren’t immediately familiar ‘get’ what it is you’re achieving

            i think the ability to tell a story is important here and id like to put more time to learn how to frame it. its a very secure chat implementation from what i understand about what ive created. im keen to be challenged on if its the most secure chat app out there, but this typically seen as confrontational and seems to hurt public opnion of the project (and thus i dial it down).

            here is an attempt to try explain it as “more secure than mainstream solutions”: https://www.reddit.com/r/cryptography/comments/1evdby4/is_this_a_secure_messaging_app

            while i think i have a point about the security implementation. im also aware that the project is not very user friendly and full of bugs which makes for a very unappealing product.

            its worth noting, that im trying to communicate about the project to cybersecurity professionals at the moment to see if the theory hold up and i think it does. i iteratively improved the UI in an attempt to gain traction. as a webdeveloper i know that i can spend more time on the UI that everything else combined, but that wouldnt be a good use of my time compared to some under-the-hood changes for stability and fixes.

            • FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world
              2·
              1 day ago

              Ok, that’s great. I get what you’re trying to do now.

              I think in terms of getting input I can only suggest that deliberately invoking Cunningham’s law is probably going to get you more responses that anything else. You are honest and upfront about the code being unstable but this is unlikely to motivate someone to audit it for you. Simply stating it’s the most secure web chat available for x reasons is more likely to motivate someone to prove you wrong. Even if their motivations are negative you might still find the insight valuable…