Does it make sense to move a website to open-source?

Question

Books

Hello.

I have a rather old book site (exchange-sale-purchase of read paper books between users). The situation is as follows:

1. There is no development of the project, but there is no way to delete it either.
2. There are a lot of similar projects now
3. Self-written engine, many shortcomings and complaints

In this regard, there is an idea to give the project to open-source , namely:

1. Refresh the site's ideology, find a new niche (there is one idea ...)
2 Move the engine to a framework
3. Organize open development: storage, testing, releases, etc.

The most important question:Is it interesting and in demand? Would anyone be willing to participate in this? If you participate, why? (pump skills, learn to work in a team, other options ...)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Answer 1

Depending on what benefit you want to receive.
If the question is to improve your skills in terms of project management, then why not, but if it’s just like that… then it’s probably a waste of time.

Answer 2

The software is open-source, but not one site. open-source software is growing rapidly because everyone can use and customize to suit their needs. One site is a specific task, and (based on the content) not so interesting as to interest programming enthusiasts in itself. It's not a search engine. Cloning the functionality also does not make much sense.
If the engine is worth it, you can try to make an open-source CMS, there were a lot of posts on this topic on Habré. If the engine is so-so, then it’s easier to take something ready-made than to reinvent the wheel. And to work on the site (I mean programming), an interested team is needed.
The site, in my opinion, can be “open” in only two versions: content (filled with users, web2.0) and API. I think you have the first one, but you don't need the second one.

Answer 3

on phpforum, I published a topic in which I was ready to give a free VDS to host opesource projects and develop them. No one responded to the case. I think there will be few people who want to, but why not try? The main thing is useful features for developers, just like that no one will do it. Alas. By the way, do you need a VDS?

Answer 4

Might be interesting if you find interested developers. Tell me more.

Answer 5

Open development, IMHO, only makes sense if the site has some unique functionality or all sites in this niche have self-written engines, and not ordinary CMS with (self-written) modules. Another option is to develop a universal CMS based on the site, devoid of many of the shortcomings of the existing ones (first of all, it concerns the popular CMS in PHP with a huge baggage of legacy code).

Answer 6

it's not clear what you want to do.
If you want to transfer the engine to opera-source, then there is a point in this. In addition to eliminating old bugs, there will be a bunch of new goodies, and this number is growing every day in the open source world.
But to change the engine you need to pay money.
What does this mean:
>> 3. Organize open development: repository, testing, releases, etc.
it turns out that you want to make your engine open source? Then to answer how popular it will be depends on your functionality.
You can compare your site with Uberkart for example, and then decide for yourself which is better.

Answer 7

OK, since they ask for details:
Firstly, I don’t see the point in developing the existing engine (even if you put it in the public domain). Now there are many similar (book selling, book exchange) sites, and they all more or less repeat each other (both in terms of advantages and disadvantages). What remains is a reorientation to some original idea. As such an idea, I thought about the search by desires (Wishlist). What is the point:
- the user enters a list of authors and titles of books that he would like to read
- closes the site and forgets about it
- then the system itself scans various book resources, and if it finds the requested book, it sends a notification
those. it is an alternative to the usual instant search. In fact, yes, this is a mini-search engine tailored specifically for books. At first glance, it seems simple, but I tried it - there are many nuances: downloading, storage, the search algorithm itself. I think such things would be interesting for developers.
Openness also includes the fact that users will be able to add book sources (websites, individual pages ...)
What do you say?

Answer 8

There is more good advice. Why go to open-source right away if it can be done sinusoidally. Namely:
at the moment there is a huge demand among electronic book readers. Personally, I like to read books on my iPhone. But sites where one could go straight from the device and download a book are either stupid or raw. Therefore, I advise you to start with an openr for users' wines and other devices. And then go to Market and Apstor. To get started, it's free. When the momentum rises, you can gradually increase the cost. Since if the service is good, then it’s not a pity to pay. Good luck