[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.