@OP: Maybe just finding a way to curate the most popular open source libraries into lists per language, framework, etc would be helpful? For example, for me I'm not particularly interested in all open source projects, but I'm really interested in Django stuff. Hence why I love looking at the awesome-django curated list [3]. Maybe an application to just rank all packages for a given ecosystem? Just spitballing.
[1]: https://www.imdb.com/chart/top/ [2]: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=feature&genres... [3]: https://github.com/wsvincent/awesome-django
Was thinking this "ossdb" could work similarly.
TLDR you can't always trust reviews (or peoples tastes). If the Trailer & synopsis hooks ya why not give it a shot when you can always just stop watching if it doesn't pan out.
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Now as far as an IMDB for open source, I'd say maybe even go so far as doing a Letterboxd type deal? When it comes to opensource projects it always helps to hear what the users are saying about it.
- I did discover interesting movies on IMDB. It was more by chance though, while looking up info on known movies.
- Popularity of a piece of OSS may be important when choosing to use it for an org. Something alive and widely used has better chances of survival in the future, and/or speed of reaction to security incidents.
That said, I agree that IMDB is not what I'd like the directory of OSS to resemble. I'd rather go after imitating tvtropes.
But that doesn't mean it couldn't change if something different were available that gave some (unspecified) advantage.
Imdb is quite good if you're just looking for the best 100 movies ever made.
Then you're clearly using IMDB wrong.
IMDB is owned by Amazon, therefore, their recommendation algorithms are quite good.
And like Amazon, if you create an account and feed it data about your preferences and wishlists, these recommendations get better over time.
I've discovered countless new movies and TV shows I wouldn't have discovered otherwise thanks to IMDB.
Amazon user since day 1 or thereabouts. Their recommendation algorithm has never ever been useful to me. Anecdata, I know.
1. I never discovered any movie on IMDB. I go to IMDB to find trivia, cast or some other fact about a movie that I somehow already knew of.
2. My interest in an open source project will not be influenced by its popularity or any other metrics but purely by what it means to me. I submitted my first PR to an open source project not because it is popular but because it lacked something I needed.
P.S. Thanks to all the nice people who generously contribute to OSS and offer their work for free. Hats off and respect.