Lessons Learnt Failing to Monetize My Ruby Gem (opens in new tab)

(mikerogers.io)

55 pointsrogem0025y ago12 comments

12 comments

I also recommend the "app standup" as well - my side projects usually have a Telegram bot that sends me a daily message of performance, users, any cash generated etc... really does help keep the momentum going.

ge965y ago

Is that a thing? Like a site/portal/dashboard you log into, shows a bunch of your apps/random servers and their statuses... I was thinking about this myself. Ideally would be real time or at least some kind of pub-sub/poll.

rogem002OP5y ago

I've seen a few portals (Like Heroku Dataclips / Metabase) which offer this.

That said, I shoehorned it into my daily routine otherwise I'd just end up not checking it for a few weeks at a time.

1 more reply

wastedhours5y ago

Every time I see a new server management dashboard I think it'd be a cool concept to apply for a side/home project monitoring tool.

A bit like Backstage, but for personal projects.

1 more reply

rogem002OP5y ago

If anyone is curious, the source code of the now shutdown app is available on GitHub ( https://github.com/PigCI/App ).

floatingatoll5y ago

Roger, one consideration that could otherwise seem trivial or irrelevant is that the word “pig” is not free of connotations, and is not often used positively in many respects outside of pig-relevant contexts. It probably would have been OK in a farming or ore processing context, but without grounding for the joke it’s a rough sell.

rogem002OP5y ago

I regretted the name after launch. It seemed fun & playful at first, but soon its limitations became pretty apperent.

Next time I'm just going to use a "Does what it says on the tin" kind of approach to naming.

rurban5y ago

"however GitHub paused verifying applications in January. This really screwed me as the marketplace guidelines said I was not allowed to be listed on the GitHub marketplace if I offer a paid service outside of GitHub Marketplace."

Anybody knows the background on this screw-up?

rogem002OP5y ago

I think GitHub isn't trying to push the marketplace as hard as they were a year ago. I suspect the success of GitHub Actions makes the whole marketplace a bit of a risk they'd rather not waste time on.

shinryuu5y ago

Basecamp is pretty good for the stand-up perspective as well. There is a free version for personal accounts.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

12 comments

wastedhours5y ago

ge965y ago

rogem002OP5y ago

I've seen a few portals (Like Heroku Dataclips / Metabase) which offer this.

That said, I shoehorned it into my daily routine otherwise I'd just end up not checking it for a few weeks at a time.

1 more reply

wastedhours5y ago

Every time I see a new server management dashboard I think it'd be a cool concept to apply for a side/home project monitoring tool.

A bit like Backstage, but for personal projects.

1 more reply

rogem002OP5y ago

If anyone is curious, the source code of the now shutdown app is available on GitHub ( https://github.com/PigCI/App ).

floatingatoll5y ago

rogem002OP5y ago

I regretted the name after launch. It seemed fun & playful at first, but soon its limitations became pretty apperent.

Next time I'm just going to use a "Does what it says on the tin" kind of approach to naming.

rurban5y ago

Anybody knows the background on this screw-up?

rogem002OP5y ago

shinryuu5y ago

Basecamp is pretty good for the stand-up perspective as well. There is a free version for personal accounts.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse