[softwaredoug]

In addition to docs, I’d also add evangelism as often missing. For a project to be successful, someone fronting the project and engaging with a potential community on how it could be used. Call it “sales” or “marketing” even, but open source projects need it as much as proprietary products...

[gav]

There's a list of things that should be right there on the project homepage:

- What is this project?

- Who is the intended audience?

- Why would I use it?

- How does it compare to other projects?

- Where should I go for help/support, i.e. where is the mailing list/forums/etc.

- How can I get up and running with the minimum of effort?

[ChrisSD]

A lot of proprietary projects don't even do that. The project homepage is targeted at managers so to a programmer it often comes across as meaningless marketing blurb (IMHO).

[andrewingram]

- why might I not want to use it?

[brewdad]

I really appreciated the "drawbacks" link on the sidebar at migadu.com. If you know there are use cases that don't fit your goals, admit them up front.

[naniwaduni]

Evangelism is needed if adoption is a goal, which is far from a given even for proprietary products.

[steveklabnik]

I cannot agree more.

It’s simultaneously something that’s incredibly important, but also weirdly under-valued.