Ask HN: When do you say no to a personal passion project?

Re:Ask HN: When do you say no to a personal passion project? by LegoZombieKing on Wednesday January 25, 2023 @07:21PM (#34526158)

I think that's what I'm starting to fall into now. I've finished the workable versions of them, and now I'm starting to scope out features that might make them too complex. I use most of these programs every day, and the challenge I'm striking is whether or not I need to create the ultimate, or if I should just stop where I am at.

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Re:Ask HN: When do you say no to a personal passion project? by bruce511 on Thursday January 26, 2023 @03:06AM (#34529019)

Is your goal to have fun building it? Or is your goal to ship it?

I know plenty of projects that will never ship because the author can think of new things faster than he can code. Coding is fun. Shipping, selling and supporting is work. Hence the (subconscious?) goal of never actually shipping.

Which is perfectly OK. But being self-aware enough to know this is happening is both useful and liberating.

Alternatively if your goal is to ship, then ship it already...

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Re:Ask HN: When do you say no to a personal passion project? by sokoloff on Thursday January 26, 2023 @07:13AM (#34530741)

I cycle back and forth between “what would the magnum opus in this space?” and “how little can I get away with here?”

After doing some fantasizing about the former, it helps me to switch frames and build the fastest, shittiest version of it. I have a TODO.txt file with what might come later, but I also have something working that I can learn from and/or get utility from. (For me, the alternative is constant anxiety about “what else could I brainstorm here?” (which is fun) and little in the “what did I accomplish?” (which is rewarding in a different way, but isn’t strictly as ‘fun’).

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