[Discuss] suggestions on how to free code?

[me at mattgillen.net (Matthew Gillen)]

On 08/13/2012 10:30 PM, Eric Chadbourne wrote:
> My question is, how to release in a way that lays the foundation for a
> community?  I just read
> http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-Release-Practice-HOWTO/index.html
> and like it mucho.  Any other tips from BLU?

I don't know how hard it is to get a project hosted on sourceforge
nowadays, but we've used that in the past when we had a project we
wanted to open source.  It's really nice to get all the website, source
code repo, and mailing lists for free.

When it comes to building community, I also think there is a
psychological aspect where if a project is hosted on sf.net, people feel
like there is less chance of it just disappearing one day (as it might
if maintained by a private company that runs out of "good-will" funds).
 The worst thing that happens to projects on sf.net is that they
languish alone, unloved.  But they stick around forever (at least in
internet-years).

And to drive that point home, if you (or your company) decide that being
at the helm of the project is too much work, having sf.net as the main
focal point of the project makes it that much easier to hand it off to
someone outside your organization that has the desire and ability to run
with it.

ESR barely mentions sf.net (in section 9.5).  But I think there are a
whole lot more reasons to use sf.net than just getting tools for free.

HTH,
Matt