There are two questions to this:
- How can I best "spread the word" about my projects to interested users?
- How can I best "spread the word" to like-minded developers?
I know this sounds easy, but it really isn't.
I've participated in official mailing list discussions, establishing a presence on IRC, wrote articles for magazines, hosted on sourceforge, submitted to freshmeat, and even bribed friends & colleagues. In 10 out of 10 cases, I'm still the sole developer. Even the device drivers I write, get no love... from the manufacturers that call me, make requests, and send prototypes of new hardware for me to support.
I have always had trouble rallying support for open source projects, especially my own. On "the job," managers have always been weary of creating and contributing patches. I know that there's a disconnect with "free" software in many people's minds. And I know that there are like-minded people out there willing and able to help. The problem is finding them.
I'm not looking for, or interested in, slave labor. Just the hope of finding a handful of talented guys, with shared interests, that wouldn't mind contributing a patch or two. I seek team building, not manual labor. I can bear the brunt and do not mind it. I want to work with others, not fly solo. I openly welcome criticism and suggestion. I desire it.
I've written various "things" here & there that are used. Some of my work is even packaged by default in a few Linux distributions. The problem is, I'm not talented enough to take everything to the next level by myself. I simply don't have what it takes to be the sole maintainer of a dozen projects. I regularly receive feature requests and lack the time to handle them. I'm over tw