I’m based in Germany and wanted to ask for some guidance from this awesome community.
A while ago, I tried starting a business selling old laptops with Fedora pre-installed. Honestly? It was a complete flop and didn’t go as planned! But that experience taught me a lot and kept my passion for open-source alive.
Fast forward to today, after two years of work, I’ve managed to launch the v0.1 Alpha of Arborito, a 100% free, decentralized, and open-source platform to learn anything using interactive visual maps (built as a community project, no ads, no paywalls).
Right now, it’s just me managing everything (from design to community and getting the initial release out), and I’m facing two big hurdles where I’d love your advice:
Building a contributor community: How do you effectively attract people (devs, translators, educators) to help grow a brand-new open-source project from scratch?
Legal aspects in Germany: Since I’m living in Germany, I’m a bit lost on the legal/bureaucratic side for open-source projects (Impressum, privacy/GDPR, non-profit status vs. personal project, etc.). Does anyone with experience in Germany have tips on how to navigate this safely?
I did what I could on my own to get this initial Alpha out there, but I know a forest can’t grow with just one tree.
I’d really appreciate any tips, resources, or shared experiences!
Sounds like it might be an okay idea.
However I got put off by the privacy policy agreement, username and password.
As I dont really know what Arborito is for or doing, I did not continue.
To promote it further, try hacker news - but write a really clear and short description of what to expect and use cases. Feel free to promo those here.
I completely understand your point, so I just pushed a patch to make things much clearer and less confusing. Now it’s clear that you don’t need an account to use the platform, it’s completely optional!
Everything runs locally in your browser. If you do choose to create an account, it is fully encrypted on the Nostr decentralized network, so there is no central server controlling your data.
Really appreciate the tip about Hacker News as well! I’ll make sure to refine the pitch before posting there. Thanks again!
I’m retired, and have no experience with the type of project you’re planning, in Germany or anywhere else. I do have one suggestion that stands out: get yourself a good lawyer who specializes in small businesses and start ups and take his advice. Yes, it will cost money, but it will be well worth it in the long run.
Thanks for the feedback! I searched for options, but the cost was huge. I’m fortunate to have insurance for major emergencies, but it’s frustrating that helping people feels out of reach unless you have a ton of money. I’m just one person trying to make a difference right now, but I hope to build a team around this cause. I appreciate the encouragement and will keep trying!
But that experience taught me a lot and kept my passion for open-source alive.