Ask HN: Cloned side project

[imwhimsical]

I've been working on something, as a side project. But I ran into somebody else who recently released a similar product.

Should I continue to work on mine? Or ditch it because it is redundant anyways?

[ElongatedTowel]

I have a similar problem. I'm working on a static site generator. It improves on some ideas other people had, but it isn't exactly unique. With several hundred similar projects out there thats almost impossible anyway. It serves my needs, but it isn't exactly mature.

I'm always seeking for a new one that solved the annoyances other projects had so I can just use that one instead. But there is always something off. I could improve the code or give the author a suggestion. Problem is, I'm in dire need of a portfolio. A whole project is far more impressive than one or two patches or a mere suggestion in someones issue tracker.

In the end I would be releasing code I don't really intend to use as soon as something else has all I need. One that probably no one would be using. Perfectionism and pride suddenly come into play.

[stevekemp]

If you're aware that it will be unlikely to take the world by storm, then complete it regardless.

You'll probably learn interesting things, and have something you can use either for real, or as you say for a portfolio-project.

FWIW I wrote http://github.com/skx/templer for similar reasons, in my case annoyance at how poorly other static site-generators handle symlinks.

I use it these days on several sites such as http://lumail.org/ & http://tweaked.io/ both of which other people have contributed to, which makes me think the barrier to entry wasn't too high.

[jrmiii]

The thing is, competition can signal that there is a real market for what you're doing.

It's generally not a good thing to be the only game in town over the long run.

[_wp3r]

If you would use the competitor and be completely happy with it then drop it. If you are confident in your ability to provide a better value add then the competitor then charge ahead. Your only loss is a little time.

[imwhimsical]

Thank you for the answer!

The issue here is that my product is definitely better designed, and can match (perhaps even slightly bypass) the technical capabilities of the rival product!

But It'd be safe to say the following — The "rival" has established a (4-5k people) community around the product, and my better designed version aims to build a larger community of users. I'm not going to be charging, and neither is he.

[christopherslee]

Similar to the above poster, I think you have to determine what your goals are for your own side project. Is it mostly a learning exercise for yourself? Was it your lottery ticket? Were you just simply trying to build a product that solved your own problem that you didn't think existed at the time?

If you both aren't going to be charging for it, is the other one open source? Is there some kind of arrangement you two can make to work together?

[imwhimsical]

The project was mostly to give back to the community (not to learn or anything, while it has taught me a lot)

Both mine as well as the other one is open source, but I don't know how to go about a merger.

[dhoulb]

As long as YOU think yours is better, keep doing it! Don't tolerate crap :)

[User8712]

Also consider how difficult your added value would be for the competition to implement.

If you pose any threat to your competitor, they'll knock-off your features before you get off the ground. Then, you lose your main selling point and you're left in the dust.

[centdev]

Continue to work on it if your approach differs. There are not unique ideas but it depends on who executes it better.

[jitendrac]

Just keep working on your product/project. Competition may add features to your project !!!