> Having gone through this initial bootstrap phase for the kgdb project > back in > 2000 and then maintained it since then (kgdb.sourceforge.net > originally, now > at kgdb.linsyssoft.com); here are a few suggestions. This isn't > necessarily > specific to KGit. If someone plans to develop and maintain some other > tool/package, the same applies. >
Excellent write up... although only partially applicable to kgit. please see below for reasons and my two paisa added > 1. You are unlikely to get attention of a more than 10-15 persons in > the first > month, let alone thousands of bug reports :)) i only said thousands of bug reports out of frustration :p cause i already have couple of people complaining about the performance on linux kernel tree. Anyway LKML is a wrong audience for this project and i am glad i didn't post there. > 2. You'll most likely get bug reports at times when you're too busy > with your > (paying) job. The best policy in this case is to assure a fix to the > person > who reports it. It's ok if you do the fix after 3-6 months. Do inform > him > about the fix immediately after you finish and post it. The reporter > will > appreciate your response a lot and will remember you. Quite frankly i don't care... kgit is a result of an week end hack out of frustration in selecting files for git-commit. I did not plan this project out and uploaded only cause i felt its already useful to at least one more soul out there. > 3. Keep posting to a mailing list where you'll find people with > possible > interest. LKML is a good place in your case. People don't mind unless > you > post too many updates. 1 per month is good enough. Well LKML still isn't the place for kgit right now. > 4. When posting updates or progress reports, don't ask people to go to > some > website and read them. Instead write a short summary which can be read > in > less than 1 minute. > 5. About 6 months down the line and after 4-5 updates, you'll > generate > interest from about 100 to 200 listeners/viewers and 5-10 users. > 6. Most likely timeframe for contributions from other people is 1 year > down > the line when they're confident that their contributions won't go > waste. To > build this confidence, you'll need to keep posting updates. That's all > you > need to do other than saying that you're open to contributions. This > isn't as > difficult as it may sound. > 7. About 2 years down the line, you'll reach a stage where you'll be > known by > your work to anyone who's in the intended audience. While this > timeframe may > appear too long; believe me when it happens, the pleasure of > experiencing it > is worth 10 years of efforts : All these are excellent tips if one is looking for fame, not that its a bad thing to look for. My prediction is that kgit will remain a small niche tool used by few (quite possibly only my team) till somebody writes an alternative and i switch to it. Thanks again ... BAIN -- ______________________________________________________________________ Pune GNU/Linux Users Group Mailing List: ([email protected]) List Information: http://plug.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/plug-mail Send 'help' to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for mailing instructions.
