This post is for people wanting to start a FOSS project. Specifically a FOSS project which is bigger than a weekend hackfest. Though most of the advice applies there pretty nicely too. I’m going to assume that you have some idea of what you want to build. If not this post will still have some value as it will give you ideas of how I came up with building Praelatus. The Why What makes you want to build something? Change the world For fun To replace something you hate To satisfy your own itch To learn a new technology To make money Why are you making whatever you’re making? A large part of my day job right now is supporting a JIRA instance and I hate it with a passion. It’s slow buggy and I spend an inordinate amount of time reverse engineering it to fix it.