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Ask HN: How do I grow my open source project

by ziolko on 8/23/24, 4:42 PM with 1 comments

A few years ago I've created a semi-successful open source project called ARIA DevTools [1][2]. It's a browser extension that shows a nice visualisation of a website accessibility tree.

People continue to say that they really like the extension and I'd love to improve it, but honestly it doesn't feel great to spend my free time on something that doesn't bring any revenue. On the other hand, I'd like to keep it free and fully open source.

As you see I am a little bit stuck here :) I am looking for ideas on how to sponsor the project. Just asking for donations looks naïve, but perhaps there's some company that sponsors this kind of projects? Or, perhaps you have some completely different ideas that I just didn't consider?

I'd appreciate any advice here.

[1] https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/aria-devtools/dneemiigcbbgbdjlcdjjnianlikimpck?hl=en

[2] https://github.com/ziolko/aria-devtools

  • by jqpabc123 on 8/23/24, 4:55 PM

    Correct me if I'm wrong but open source offers no promises or obligations of any kind to anyone.

    Under these conditions, how do you even define "growth" and better yet, why should it really matter to others?

    You're essentially asking others to help finance your hobby in exchange for nothing they don't already get for free anyway. Good luck with that.