As we look back and reflect on 2024—🤮 BLEH! I’m kidding. This is NOT one of those emails.

It’s actually 9:10 EST on New Years Day. (Be careful—the ink is probably still wet on this email 💧!)

My wife and I just got done taking down the Christmas stuff.

I knew that the second I sat down to write, she would ask me to help . . . so let’s just rip the band-aid off, get it packed up and I can write without needing one ear open.

I’m not big on holidays in general, holiday emails, etc.

I’ve been called “The Grinch” by more than a few people in my life.

It’s not that I have any problem with holidays, but there is so much nuance to every aspect of social interactions, gift giving, facial expressions, etc.

As someone with Aspergers, it can be very overwhelming to navigate.

My wife happily takes the reins and I just go along for the ride, albeit more reserved than most.

But true to the New Year, as business owners we’re all thinking about what we’re going to focus on this year and how we’re going to make (and spend/not spend) our money.

This is one of the reasons that I think open-source is such a great topic.

As we’ve already discussed this week, it can be a really powerful way to get REALLY awesome software for much less than full commercial offerings.

Let me stagger you with a statistic:

This begs a REALLY important question—how in the world do I know what’s “good?”

You already have no extra free time, let alone time to research hundreds of thousands of open-source projects to save $20/month.

So let me give you an acronym to guide you when you see an open-source project.

REACH

Open-source projects will typically be hosted on Github, which allows them to share the source code and lets other developers collaborate.

When you click on a project, it may look like a bunch of gibberish, but there is really valuable information—and you don’t even have to scroll or click.

REACH is a simple acronym that helps you interpret the quality of open-source projects.

Recency - When was the last update? At the top, you can see the last code change. If it’s a complex piece of software, you should see updates within the past week. If it’s several weeks or months, that’s a concern.

Engagement - Let’s talk stars and forks. Stars are basically “favorites.” Developers can “favorite” their favorite projects. Forks let developers “copy” the code and collaborate. Both of these numbers tell a lot. You want to see AT LEAST triple-digits.

Age - Look in the code history for the oldest dates. Anyone can get excited to start a new project last week. We want to see SEVERAL years (ideally, not always).

Consistency - How frequently is this updated? Look in the code history for a variety of dates over recent days, months and weeks. Is it update once every two months, 6 months, two years? We want to see lots of different recent dates.

Help - Are people actively posting “issues?” Github has an issue tracker where anyone can submit a bug or help request. Want to see an active community AND active responses by the developers.

REACH isn’t a 100% hard-and-fast set of rules, but it’s a good reference point.

Don’t be afraid of open-source . . . just do a little bit of due diligence to make sure you’re not stuck with something that died six months ago.

Troy's One Cool Thing of the Day

Troy says: “I’m always amazed when people don’t realize this free tool exists. Unless you’re a Hollywood CGI editor, it’s just as powerful as Adobe Photoshop. I don’t use it a lot, but I use it when I need it.”

Key Features of GIMP

• 🖌️ High-Quality Image Manipulation: Comprehensive tools for retouching, restoring, and creating composite images.

• 💻 Cross-Platform Compatibility: Available for GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows, and other operating systems.

• 🔌 Extensibility: Supports plugins and scripting in multiple programming languages, including Python, Perl, and Scheme.

• 🆓 Free and Open Source: Users can modify the source code and distribute their changes.

• 🎨 Design Tools: Specialized features for creating icons, UI elements, and mockups.

The Bottom Line:

✨ GIMP is a powerful, free alternative to commercial image editing software. It offers professional-grade tools for artists, photographers, and designers while maintaining flexibility through extensive customization options.

Disclaimer: Just a heads-up! Some of the links in this newsletter might be affiliate links, which means I could earn a small commission if you make a purchase. No extra cost to you… just a way to keep the magic coming!