Jenny List

There are times when I wish I could take an open source project by the hand and explain to them the art of public facing communication. Such simple things as how a person who doesn't live and breathe the thing gets started, and even as basic as WHAT THE DAMN THING ACTUALLY DOES.

This is one of those times.

Mar 7 at 3:57pmWeb
Show threadJenny ListMar 7
I won't name the project. But it's one I think could be a huge amount bigger if it wasn't so impenetrable.
Show threadMarcus MüllerMar 7
@JennyList (as usual, I kind of hope I'm not a leading person on a project like the one you describe, but if I am, do please hit me with criticism as hard as you can)
Show threadJenny ListMar 7
@funkylab i feel a talk coming up, on PR for open source.
Show threadMarcus MüllerMar 7
@JennyList I'll gladly invite you the European GNU Radio days (as if we wouldn't be looking for speakers ;-) ), if you want to do that. All we can offer is eastern Breton weather in November, though, which, um, I mean, it contends with Dutch weather, I guess?
Show threadMarcus MüllerMar 7
@JennyList (I'm great at this "selling things" affair, am I not?)
Show threadRobee? Na! 🌈Mar 7
@JennyList It’s such a difficult situation, people do things on their own time so they don’t owe the world anything but also soooo frustrating when you have not got any clear way to use it!
Show threadSamMar 7
@JennyList One of my most common frustrations is a README that lists every platform they support, but doesn't once mention "this is a music player."
Show threadDaniel CarosoneMar 7

@samdiyfreeman @JennyList or they tell you what it is by saying

It's like Stankfish but for Slodemoff, and also more blue.

Show threadJenny ListMar 7
@uep @samdiyfreeman this! And that too! :)
Show threadarclightMar 7
@JennyList A lot of developers don't know it but It's actually ok if you write a dumb single sentence description of your project as if you were explaining it to a ten-year-old. Nobody comes and takes away your 1337 C0d3r membership card. I don't know how that rumor started but it's not true.
Show threadJenny ListMar 7
@arclight Yes. This.
Show threadDavid Penfold Mar 7
@JennyList An "elevator pitch" and a quick how-to are so basic yet woefully lacking sometimes.
Show threadJenny ListMar 7
@davep so true
Show threadTyrone SlothropMar 7
@JennyList I get what you mean. I’ve been making a decent living for the past two decades by translating between engineers and humans.
Show threadJenny ListMar 7
@slothrop in a different way, same here.
Show threadJacob SomethingMar 7
@JennyList Mmh. Well, maybe there is an open source project somewhere out there that would absolutely love to be taken by the hand and have explained why communication doesn't reach the audience? Like, I have this little project of mine, made a webpage, thought everything was absolutely crystal clear. Showed it to some people and got the answer "What does this thing actually do? And when would you use it?". This communication thing seems to be a hard problem, you cannot get out of your own world. -- https://tree-time.info. Whoever's interested: hints and comments welcome. : )
TreeTime

TreeTime# Linked Trees for Notes, Tasks, and Structured Data# TreeTime is a tool for keeping, organizing and analyzing information using separate cross-linked hierarchies. Unlike flat lists, spread sheets, or single-view apps, the same data item can appear in multiple trees at the same time — giving you flexible, multi-perspective sorting, categorising, and calculation. Python Package Download / Windows Download / Linux Documentation Source Code Report Issues What is TreeTime?# TreeTime is a light-weight data manager that arranges your data in trees — units and sub-units. Each data object can belong to several trees at the same time, allowing nested mathematical operations and exports to different graphic formats. → Read an explanation: What is a Tree?

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