Discussion
If you publish any #OpenSource and you want people to use it, may I please implore you to test your README?
Can you actually follow the steps you've written down? Does it work if the user doesn't have the same development packages installed as you?
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10/how-to-actually-test-your-readme/
@Edent One of the things I always say to new people joining the org is, "Here are the team new starter docs, there will be errors or omissions, please fix any bugs you find!".
(There's a window of, ooh, about two weeks when things that are obvious to people who have been here ages won't be to new joiners. So there's a golden window for improvement. It helps set some cultural values, too.)
Install Fedizen
Get the full app experience
I'm currently paying people to test my README.
Using my #NLnet grant money, I'm giving people a €25 voucher if they'll let me watch them try to follow my documentation and install my software.
It is *painful* but brilliant. I've found so many issues that I'd never thought of before. Only by hearing people sigh in frustration at your clumsy prose will you be able to improve things.
You don't have to pay people, of course,. Ask a friend if you can watch them install your code.
It is revelatory.