Ask HN: Any great ideas about Open Source Mini Projects?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=717846

by badpwner • 17 years ago

3 3 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi folks, I wish to start a new open source project of my own as a mini project this semester. I wish to work more on the idea and extend it further in coming winter vacations. But the problem is - I'm running out of ideas, most of the ones that came to my mind have already been implemented! I would like to do something in Python (preferable), C,C++..can learn new lang if proj is interesting and have got 4 months with regular 8-6 course.

Please help out!

mgrouchy• 17 years ago

Honestly if you want to start an open source project for the sake of starting an open source project, its probably not going to work. You're probably not going to want to work on it after awhile and you won't accomplish much.

What I would suggest is examine the software you use and problems you are having with it, or some problem that you have that hasn't been solved by software yet.

After you find a legitimate problem that you have,set out to fix it(in the form of an open source project). That is generally a way to be successful.

Its easy to get jazzed up about something you are using to solve your own problems and it gets even easier to stay motivated when other people with the same problem identify your piece of software as a fix.

(I would probably say this is decent advice for starting a start-up as well :P)

tdoggette• 17 years ago

Integrate Launchpad and Wave: the dates of the big code release for both of them are a lovely coincidence.

Also, a cross-platform alarm clock that has a good UI.

Learn Django or Grok (or Zope) or some other cool Python web technology.

kreeda• 17 years ago

Yeah write a crossplatform alarm that annoys users so much that 10% of its users end up throwing off their laptops and PCs at one moment!

Ask HN: Any great ideas about Open Source Mini Projects?

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