What was the turning point when your project went from “random repo” → “people actually use this”?

Happy new year guys!

Question for you all:

👉 What was the turning point when your project went from “random oss repo” → “people actually use this”?

Was it:
posting here?
great docs?
luck?
pain-killer product?
memes?

Also — if you’re a solo builder, how do you stay motivated when literally nobody has starred your repo yet?

So, I’ve been lurking here for a while and finally decided to become “one of you” instead of just silently starring everyone else’s repos 😂

I’ve seen people here build some insanely cool stuff and somehow grow from “zero GitHub notifications” → “1000+ stars and real users”, and honestly that’s massively inspiring.

…I’d love to learn from you.

https://redd.it/1q0zlrb
@r_opensource

Using Git as a Backend for other Tools
https://www.ephraimsiegfried.ch/posts/git-as-a-fancy-dag

https://redd.it/1q10s8d
@r_opensource

Vessel – a lightweight UI for Ollama models
https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel

https://redd.it/1q10i2u
@r_opensource

What are the best Open Source Projects to start contributing to as a Beginner?

So in 2026 I'm planning to making consistent Open source contributions.

I have made several personal projects but never made a Open source PR before.

What are some of the projects I could start with which have active maintainers?

My tech stack is MERN & React Native.

I'm looking for more B2C projects because it's easier to contribute to a project you can actually use.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

https://redd.it/1q122dk
@r_opensource

I created open-source disposable email generatoe
https://github.com/kasteckis/TempFastMail

https://redd.it/1q12173
@r_opensource

Spoiled for choice - Licenses

Hi,

I wanted to implement a small project, a functional PHP page. I don't expect it to be of real use to many other users, but rather as a hobby and for my own use. Since I always use Github for development (as a history log and something like a backup), I would like to give the whole thing a license.

Since I'm “paranoid” enough, I still want to prohibit commercial use in the form of paid hosting for others without explicit permission. Hosting for use as a company or private individual, as well as without the intention of making a profit, should also be possible without explicit permission. Otherwise, modification, distribution, etc. should remain permitted, as with “normal” open source software.

Is there already such an established license? If there is more than one, can someone tell me what the advantages/disadvantages of each license would be?

tl;dr: Is there an open source license that prevents commercial use by third parties?


€dit: posted in german language by accident, updated to english translation

https://redd.it/1q15hj8
@r_opensource

hey guys , what are some discord server's , forums or community that you feel every contributor should be part of ?

so guys i am new to open source and want to deep dive into open source and be part of community . so to better understand and interact with more alike people i wanted to know your opinion , which resource , community , forum or discord server benefited you the most or got to meet the most helping people through it and got to know more about open source and got your roots strong in the community.

https://redd.it/1q17ec8
@r_opensource

ASCII art Reviving an abandoned GNOME ASCII-art project – looking for contributors & testers

Hi everyone 👋

I’ve started maintaining Letterpress, a previously abandoned GNOME project originally hosted on GNOME GitLab.
Letterpress converts images into ASCII/text art using different character sets.

I’ve re-hosted and revived the project here:
https://github.com/dhilipmpms/Letterpress

Recently, I added multi-language character support for text-art generation (for example: English characters, Tamil characters, Tamil-English mixed sets, etc.). You can check this work in the branches of the repository.

I’m looking for:
Contributors (GTK / GNOME / Python / Rust welcome)

Feedback on code structure and design

Testers for different languages & fonts

Ideas to improve performance and UX

This is a community-maintained fork, GPL-licensed, and not officially maintained by the GNOME Foundation.
If you’re interested in ASCII art, GNOME apps, or open-source revival projects, I’d really appreciate your support, suggestions, or PRs 🙏

https://redd.it/1q18sx9
@r_opensource

Lychee 7 is released! FrankenPHP, Webshop & background processing
https://lycheeorg.dev/2025-12-31-version-7/

https://redd.it/1q1a0x3
@r_opensource

Tangent Notes releases version 0.11!

[Tangent](https://www.tangentnotes.com/) is a free & [open source](https://github.com/suchnsuch/Tangent) note writing and PKM tool. It operates on plain text markdown files directly on your machine and plays nice with other, similar tools (such as Obsidian).

Version 0.11 was just released and added:

* Support for embedding audio, video, and PDFs.
* Display of Mermaid Diagrams.
* Full customization of keyboard shortcuts.
* A new icon for MacOS Tahoe.
* And [more](https://mastodon.social/@tangentnotes/115782512894068560)!

If you've never encountered Tangent before, it features an innovative two-dimensional map of what notes you create, browse, and link to, making it so that you never get lost while exploring your thoughts. It supports `[[Wiki Links]]` with back-linking, inline-styled markdown, a custom query language for powerful search, and more!

Looking forward into the new year, the 0.12.x cycle will focus on improvements to lists and overall interface consistency. The 0.13.x cycle will focus on creating tools for publishing notes to the web!

https://redd.it/1q18jp7
@r_opensource

Made a nodejs framework

I tried to make a framework. It's kinda of mix of nestjs and express

But it's not based on express

I built it from scratch

The thing is i like nestjs but i wanted something make less complicated ( it's not that complicated but still )

https://github.com/tahamansoor/clawdia

Idk if I should post it here

https://redd.it/1q18kcg
@r_opensource

It filters your sensitive data out

Hi, if you need to type API,phone numbers and so on to automate stuff in LLMs, now you can do it without giving away your privacy.

free and open source: https://github.com/Keeper888/privacyguardian/tree/main

I've developed for linux so if you want it for mac or windows just let me know. Tomorrow I'm planning to release it for windows.

https://redd.it/1q1b6xv
@r_opensource

Headless and Opensource Minimal CMS (free)

Hi! I don't usually write much here, but I love blogging, and sometimes I post random thoughts on my blog.

The only thing is, I always did it with .md files, which is fine too. However, I was excited about the idea of using a CMS that was very minimal and avoiding the option of connecting something like WordPress or other big platforms.

So, I created this CMS. I know there are many CMSs out there, and this one might remind you of Zenblog since it's quite inspired by its interface. Also, I really like Jordi as well!

I use it for my personal blog and for my Saas

https://github.com/raulcanodev/zenex-cms

If you like it, I would be grateful if you could give it a star on GitHub

https://redd.it/1q18c84
@r_opensource

Advice Needed Two PRs competing for the same feature

Hi everyone,

I’m maintaining an open-source project and currently have two PRs that implement the same feature (a bilateral filter) but in different ways (the implementation details below aren't important with regards to my question):
- PR #176: Basic implementation in RGB space, optimized for performance with WASM. Simple and easy to integrate, but may produce minor color artifacts.
- PR #177: Uses CIELAB color space for perceptual accuracy. Produces better visual results but is more complex and potentially slower.

As a maintainer, I want to ensure we end up with a single, high-quality implementation and make that decision as fairly and kindly as possible. I’ve created a GitHub discussion to encourage the contributors to collaborate and combine the best aspects of both PRs, rather than competing against each other: https://github.com/Ryan-Millard/Img2Num/discussions/184

Before moving forward, I wanted to ask:
- How do you usually handle situations where multiple contributors submit different implementations of the same feature? I feel like this will be a very tough and possibly opinionated answer.
- Do you prefer picking one, combining ideas, or encouraging collaboration like I’m attempting to do?
- Any tips for keeping the process positive and transparent for all contributors? OSS is for everyone, so what I want isn't the important thing in my eyes - I want to get a final product that will benefit everyone.

Thank you for making it this far! I trust this sub - you guys always give great answers.

https://redd.it/1q1krxg
@r_opensource

Just an experience

I really wanted to share my experience in the open source world with the problems I had. Solutions are welcome. Also wanted to get this out of my head at 1... 2... 3am.
I really love the idea of the software being open to anyone, which generally prevents the software with harmful features being unnoticed, and even lets you learn something.
I am mostly oriented in engineering, mechanical, electrical and software, so knowing how something ticks really helps in creation. I also like playing games (recently played Doom TDA, which is just an absolute HELL YEAH).
As an engineer, I do face the challange of obtaining the software for designing (CAD, CAM and IDE), where most of the software is under a heavy paywall.
Now, if I was an engineer for some corporation, it would be out of the question, however I mostly do it as a hobby. I also value privacy, so I only share what I find necessary and I want a control over the files I create. Another aspect is that I want a software that will work as long as it is in my system, and not by the will of our overlords.
Starting from simply the need for creating a presentation, a spreadsheet or a formatted text, I ran in to a problem of having a software for creating those documents. MS Office is under a heavy paywall, and asking an institution for a license sets a time limit, and in some cases is not simple. Piracy? For this software I found that it works if you are lucky or you know special places of the internet.
This is where a teacher proposed multiple alternatives, like Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice or Google Docs. I went with Apache, which after getting used to worked fine.
At some point, when I didn't have to make presentations, just some files with answers, I just used Notepad. There was ofc a teacher that had a problem with it, but it was solvable. Honestly, I don't understand why it isn't used that much? It's simple, and readable. You don't need to make your answers fancy for a good grade.
There was also a case when I intentionally made an HTML page providing answers with images (had buttons too)
When the time to make spredsheets and academic papers came, I went with Google Docs (by that point I had a different PC and I was looking again for the software). And because I had a teacher that almost every lesson mentioned LibreOffice I also tried LibreOffice, which also works, but feels like it lacks some features.
But now that the time has come to write my Qualification Work, I had to get MS Office (by the liberty way), because I do not want to risk having an incorrect format, given that the sample work with all the formatting is given. Some instructions are even given explicitly for MS Word. Wish the barrier between commercial and open source alternatives was really negligible, but it isn't.
Somewhere in this story, I needed a software for 3D design. And would you look at that, the forcefully (I did not give permission, Microsoft) installed Windows 10 comes with a 3D Builder. Really simple software when you are just starting to design something on your PC. Then it uninstalled itself after some Windows update (Microsoft, I own this machine, not you), which I immediately reinstalled.
And when my 80 euro Chinese AliExpress 3D Printer came, it was the only software I would use for designs. Tried FreeCAD, but my engineering skills at the time where not ready for the avarage complexity of CAD software.
Then I needed some software to create engineeeing drawings, and I stumbled upon LibreCAD. It was perfect. You need a software for drawing 2D images where you measure stuff in milimeters instead of pixels, and make drawings that are accepted by your teacher and is easy to use? Bingo. I used it extensively for both school and my own engineering projects.
And about at the same time I got a 3 axile table CNC mill for 160 euros from China. Another task arrived: How do I tell my CNC how to cut things?
Looked online: paywall, paywall, paywall. Reading the example G-code instructions gave me an approximate understanding of how it works, but writing these instructions yourself is

time consuming. And I found an easy solution: just draw the cutting path in LibreCAD, and convert it to G-code using dxf2gcode. Simple and very controllable. It had some problems with the files as I am not a native English speaker. But thanks to it being open source, I modified problematic lines of code to use UTF-8 instead of ASCII encoding. Thus LibreCAD became one of my main tools.
Then I had Solidworks lectures, and I wanted it for myself. I got the students copy for a year, but my PC just couldn't run it. The problem isn't that it is too weak to run it, but it's something else (I have a theory that it's Intel vs AMD, as the teacher said that the requirement is an IBM computer). So I was looking for a software again. As a free solution, teachers proposed Onshape or Fusion students edition. I did use Onshape, but what I don't like is that I have little control over the files I create, as they are public, unless I pay something. And Fusion... well I really didn't want to bother it checking my school, and again it will problably lock my access after I graduate.
And then I remembered FreeCAD, a software that looked liked it was still in 2000s, but it turned out that it has updated it's design, and it looks GOOD. I honestly didn't know how many features it had, and compared to Solidworks, as much lectures as I had, I would say it's a good alternative, with all of the features Solidworks has (problably not all, but hell of a good chunk). But there are issues, such as random "ACCESS VIOLATION" which in most cases means that you close FreeCAD without being able to save whatever changes you made. Feels also clunky, definitely takes time to get used to. I also have issues with TechDraw being incredibly poorly optimized (120 tooth gear makes this thing so delayed, I exported to dxf to finish the drawing)(this problem is so old it should have been solved) and lacking some intuitive features like being able to draw extra lines anywhere or some of the specialized cuts used in engineering drawings. For the lacking features, I saw some tutorials that let you have them in the ways I find uncomfortable. Also the cuts do not use patterns which I set as a material. Also, it seems that it got so updated that some old answers on forums are not applicable (had a problem where LibreCAD cannot draw DXF file generated by FreeCAD and had to use online converter to change DXF version). Otherwise, good software.
And finnaly, the two conflicting and two of the most significant pieces of software: Linux and Windows.
The reason I even started looking in to Linux was the "absolutely important, top tier" ~~bloatware~~ "software" that comes with Windows, and the updates that must be installed the instant they are there (as sarcastic as it sounds, I find it to be reality). Windows 11 was the catalyst: "your hardware cannot support Windows 11" just tells that the software will get unreasonably heavier.
For a long while my main productivity computer was in the state where it cannot update Windows 10. I once was able to update it by doing a factory reset, but the second time I wanted to do it, Windows just said: "you don't have enough memory to do that". What kind of PC is this you ask? A laptop with 28GB of base memory that by this point is 7 years old. And within this memory, if you really try, you can get 12GB of free memory. Now I have a better PC, but this one is still useable.
At some point I decided to install Linux Mint on the second bigger drive of that poor laptop. Again, takes some time, but my experience with Raspberry Pi helped this process. I like it, and App manager is a good way to install most of the software.
But for some cases, I hate the installation process. Usually, when there isn't something in App manager, you go to Github and download the software from there. Good if it has a release, otherwise you have to compile it. In that case, usually the correct sequence of commands is provided. But I had a case where either it wasn't provided, or the sequence is incorrect. I searched for information, and all I had was some general

instructions, an arrows that point in the direction of where you should be going, but that do not tell the exact coordinates. And the cyclic infinity of "you need this library to install this library". Problably my inexperienced self was doing something wrong.
As also a software engineer (hobby), I really don't like the fact that Linux can't tell if a file is an executable from the file extension. Sometimes I want to run software from a USB stick that for the sake of being compatable with other devices uses FAT or NTFS file system. Linux on the other hand has it's own file system with some kind of flag or registry that tells it if a file is an executable.
On Windows, no matter from where the file came, if it is an .exe or .bat it is executable and you do not need to go in to properties at the minimum to make your file tick. Maybe there is an easy solution, but I just don't know it.
And for the reason why my main computer is still on Windows 10 with ESU is because I cannot be sure, that the programs I use on Windows 10 will work on Linux even with the software that lets you run Windows apps on Linux. The performance cost of this software is also important. For now, I cannot switch from MS Office, for reasons mentioned before, and I really want to stay with Paint.NET. But I do like Linux Mint even with lack of the executable format.

I hope this post provides some alternative software to some of you, and that some of you may provide solutions to troubles I had and still have.

https://redd.it/1q1mgnb
@r_opensource

Poise: Real-time system-wide audio voice isolation (ONNX, low latency, Windows)

Hello everyone,
I’m sharing a small open-source project I’ve been working on.

Poise is a real-time system audio voice isolator that captures system output, runs it through an ONNX speech denoising model, and plays back enhanced speech-only audio with low latency (\~10 ms frames).

It’s designed for cases where speech intelligibility matters more than audio fidelity (talks, lectures, interviews, etc.).

Limitations:

Output is mono
Non-speech elements (music, ambience, effects) are mostly removed

Features include:

WASAPI loopback capture on Windows
Streaming model state
VAD-based processing
GUI + CLI

Repo: https://github.com/chabandou/Poise-Voice-Isolator

I’ve been also experimenting with stem separator models for real-time but was only able achieve \~2 second delay, could be due to hardware constraints though, that's why I went with a denoiser model.

Any feedback or help on this topic is appreciated.

https://redd.it/1q1smfu
@r_opensource

TIL: I am an open-source contributor
https://beasthacker.com/til/i-am-an-open-source-contributor.html

https://redd.it/1q1uac3
@r_opensource

Need some feedback on my open-source anonymous blogging platform, would love contributors as well!
https://the-blog-zone.vercel.app

https://redd.it/1q1wn88
@r_opensource

FOSS We've got 22 stargazers in github in 2 weeks, now what?

Hi all!

Before the holidays we decided to make one of our side projects FOSS, and we've got what we consider an amazing response (22 stars) https://github.com/desplega-ai/agent-swarm/stargazers

For us this is completely unexpected, we thought we wouldn't get to 4.

Now we are thinking what should we do next, what do you recommend us to do?

We would love to have contributors and help it grow as we think it could help many.

https://redd.it/1q1y12s
@r_opensource