The linux Kernel : Evolving into Sustainability
Presentation from Stuart Yeades who said this was going to be a discussion, but it's turning into a good presentation. Here are the bullets on what made this letter good.
Don't fork
Don't pretend (via audience, see Dana Blakenhorn on this)
Running code : Projects succeed in almost direct proportion to the amount of effort it takes to get them to work the first time
Open Standards : Use them
Manage Expectations
Open to input / people
Other things you need : Need (demand), Luck, Hard Work, Skill
Where do open source developers come from?
> Ideally from the user community. Great because they have fantastic domain knowledge
> Raised from the academic community. Lecturers will allow students to submit open source projects as coursework if you give them feedback on the marking
> Convert existing developers
> Poach, share or borrow from other projects
How do you find good ones?
> What do you want people to be good at? Developers have very varies skills and it takes all sorts. You should encourage people to do what they are good at - and hoping that a balance emerges...
Useful things - TODO lists
A list of simple things that people can do is a great way to direct communities
It's also a great way to explain to people where a project is going