Ben WerdmullerJun 3, 2023
There should be a non-profit accelerator for end-user open source projects that have the potential to make the world more equal, inclusive, and democratic.
Show threadBen WerdmullerJun 3, 2023

Give the people who are building tools like Mastodon:

1. Training in user-centered software design and how to make well-founded product decisions quickly
2. Training in go-to-market and business skills
3. Training in trust and safety and community management
4. A network
5. Money

Show threadJesse
@ben Or, the other direction, involve people like me who are interested but aren’t coders. Honestly, I want to do this full time, but I don’t know if I should dive into the “soft” stuff like design and community (which I care more about), or a crash course in teaching myself to code “well enough”
Jun 3, 2023 at 8:09pmMona for Mac
Show threadJesseJun 3, 2023
@ben Been banging this drum for a while. See: my pinned toot, and also this one https://mastodon.social/@misc/110418173453992747
Show threadRyan RandallJun 3, 2023

@misc @ben Yes—making deliberate space for interested & capable non-coders is also important!

Having volunteered for about a year in a different open source project ( @dendronhq ), I know that the project & users benefited from having thoughtful, attentive, articulate users discussing what works, what could be improved, etc.

Show threadJesseJun 3, 2023
@ryanrandall @ben @dendronhq Been intending to spend a weekend making mockups and blog posts for like months now but whenever I get the time I usually fritter it away on Mastodon 👀
Show threadRyan RandallJun 3, 2023

@misc @ben I am posting from the intersection of "I have been there" and "I am currently there".

I'll look forward to reading those posts and mockups when they eventually exist!

Show threadJames Dreben Jun 3, 2023

@misc Idk if this is good advice or not, but I’d say actually being able to code is mattering less and less.

“Good enough” understanding of what *can be* coded and how to *talk* about it is mattering more and more.

I would recommend CS50 which is a free online crash course that skims the surface of many coding concepts. Far better to have a shallow knowledge of everything than a deep knowledge of anything in particular. As weird as that sounds…

Show threadJesseJun 3, 2023
@Jdreben Interesting, that is a possibility that hadn’t occurred to me. Figured that if there’s a “persuasion path” and a “DIY path”, the former would be all about getting better at writing and design, and that any benefit of technical learning would only be realized if I got to the point of being able to make a prototype or MVP.
Show threadErin KissaneJun 3, 2023
@Jdreben @misc Seconding this, getting your head around common structures and methods will save you time and trouble no matter where else you go. (Picking up the basics of an easy language is a weekend or two, so eventually worth doing just for the experience of going through dev environment hell tbh)