Hey everyone,
I recently wrote a mobile-friendly GNU/Linux app called Weights and Measures. It takes a number, and converts it into different units of measurement. I know, it’s not the most advanced thing in the world, but I believe it’s handy enough that more people than myself could use such an app. Personally, I use it to convert my weight from lbs to kilograms.
The thing is, I know that I should publish it, but I feel very demotivated from doing so. Publishing requires effort, so it typically requires a specific motivator. For myself, I used to have much a much stronger stance when it came to free/libre software.
Lately however, I feel very disconnected from any sense of community. I don’t really feel like we are much of a community in the first place. I don’t know a single person in my real life who cares about libre software outside of myself, and online, I feel somewhat jaded, as those who care about libre software seem to be more about worshipping the fungus of Richard Stallman’s feet than they are about the actual libre culture movement.
As such, I can’t decide whether I should keep working on it, or just keep it to myself.
TL;DR: Lonely software developer feels jaded from the libre software community and probably needs to find a way to connect with like-minded folks online.
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I’m not part of any FOSS community, but I love FOSS. It’s one of the things that keeps me sane. I don’t have enough coding skills to contribute, but I’ve been a power user on most platforms for a long time. I’ve been able to more and more stick to the FOSS alternatives, and I love that. I don’t know whether you should publish it, but I think it’s awesome you made it.
I have enjoyed learning more about FOSS over the last 15 years, and have only contributed some logistics and occasional monetary donations. I think the point of FOSS is that it is disparate and people contribute what they can.
There are always going to be people out there that don’t fully understand and treat FOSS software contributors like they are receiving a million dollar salary to code them. Then there are those purists who want 100% FOSS even if it compromises usability.
All of that to say, if you feel like sharing with a wider audience you can and I am sure someone will appreciate it. But if you choose to keep it for personal use to avoid the headache that is understandable too. If you share it and get some hate, just tell them to fork off, lol.
Reading your post earlier and got me thinking: are there more then one community type? As in …
There are FOSS communities which members find each other for FOSS sake.
But a more divers sort of community often gathers around the application.
For example, the OSMand community consists of cartography enthousiasts AND developers and everyone in between.
Although I like your app (intention and application, no scope creap etc) it doesnt unite users around a common goal. Which doesnt matter much because its still usefull.
Another example would be: Recently a website to convert student tests scores to grades started to ask money. If a FOSS app would provide this the community would consist also of teachers and test grading people.
