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Possible Duplicate:
Open Source Advertising - Sidebar - 1H 2011

Here is your chance to create a Free Vote-Based Advertisement for an Open Source Project. Create a graphical ad for an open source programming project and post it as an answer to this question (in the right format), and it will feed live remnant ads on stackoverflow.com.

Ad Requirements

It must be an advertisement soliciting the participation and contribution of programmers writing actual source code. This is not intended as a general purpose ad for consumer products which just happen to be open source. It's for finding programmers who will help contribute code or other programmery things (documentation, code review, bugfixes, etc).

In order to work, the answers you post to this question must conform to the following rules.

Answer Template

[![Tagline to show on mouseover][1]][2]

  [1]: http://image-url
  [2]: http://clickthrough-url

Please do not add anything else to the body of the post. If you want to add any commentary, keep it in the comments.

Image requirements

  • The image that you create must be 220px by 220px
  • Can be hosted anywhere (tinypic, twitpic, your blog); we will mirror the image locally when we serve it.
  • Must be GIF or PNG
  • No animated GIFs
  • Absolute limit on filesize of ~150kb

The output, which ultimately will be served in an ad slot on Stack Overflow, can be previewed by clicking through to this URL:

http://rads.stackoverflow.com/ossads/220x250

There is a minimum score threshold an answer must meet (currently 6) before it will be served up by that URL and shown on Stack Overflow. You can see all the ads that currently make the threshold and meet our criteria on this page:

http://rads.stackoverflow.com/ossads/all

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19
  • lol this question is already serving it's purpose. I'm curious about some of these projects I've never heard of before.
    – Doug T.
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 2:58
  • 3
    Will there be similar ones for the rest of the trilogy? Apps like pidgin could go to superuser and serverfault could get admin-oriented tools.
    – alanc
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 3:49
  • Should the ads indicate what kind of help the project is looking for? Are ads for open-source programmer tools acceptable?
    – Don Kirkby
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 7:25
  • 3
    @Jeff. I think this is a wonderful scheme you have going here. The only thing is I find it frustrating to see the add and not have a explanation of what it is. I know you said this can be done via comments but it doesn't seem to be happening so far.
    – Tim Murphy
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 11:25
  • 7
    Can other sites run these ads? IE are they contributed beyond just stackoverflow?
    – dlamblin
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 15:40
  • +1 for @dlamblin You could easily provide listings for other websites.
    – chakrit
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 20:55
  • Quibble on the format, but is it just Safari, Chrome and Firefox or does the "Tagline to show on mouseover" not show?
    – dlamblin
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 6:59
  • 4
    Is it just me, or are the majority of the ads here not an ad for programmers, but for a product?
    – Powerlord
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 19:31
  • 3
    R. Bemrose, one assumes that programmers would want to try the product then contribute to it. So the rule is, the project must allow outside code contributions and somewhat actively solicit outside code contributions.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 20:20
  • @dlamblin: If you open up a new question called something like "running open source ads on 3rd party websites" we can start to flesh out how that would work. The initial problem is that the ad size on StackOverflow (220x250) is not an IAB standard and few websites (if any) will be able to use this size. But start the topic and let's try to figure out how to make it work.
    – Portman
    Commented Dec 22, 2009 at 21:13
  • 2
    It would be interesting to see a report comparing the effectiveness of the adds (how many people clicked on them) vs. how high they were voted. Are Meta user's effective add pickers or are they just oppinionated?
    – Anonymous
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 19:24
  • The ad I appreciated the most was the JQuerySharp. I think there's only one thing more motivating to a geek than to be addressed as "My Lord."
    – Carl Smotricz
    Commented Jan 8, 2010 at 15:02
  • 1
    Just wondering: has the minimum score threshold been changed? Because there are two ads with 5 up votes that seem to meet the other criteria (meta.stackexchange.com/questions/31913/… and meta.stackexchange.com/questions/31913/…) but are not on rads.stackoverflow.com/ossads/all - or is some manual approval involved and it just takes some time?
    – Fabian Steeg
    Commented Feb 12, 2010 at 18:03
  • 2
    Rather than adds for Open Source Projects, I'd really appreciate a list of projects that need help with a quick summary of what needs to be done in each one--what they are hoping to accomplish with this additional manpower. If there is such a site, advertise that!
    – Bill K
    Commented Feb 18, 2010 at 23:33
  • 6
    Are dupes with different ad images acceptable? Doesn't exactly seem fair to load up multiple ads for a single project and drown out others.
    – random
    Commented Feb 21, 2010 at 4:28

85 Answers 85

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229

Synergy+. Connecting Computers.

Improve this answer
8
  • 11
    +1 synergy is great. To quote a co-worker regarding his ability to control four computers in his home, "Now I never have to leave my bed!"
    – ベレアー アダム
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 12:55
  • 7
    Yeah, it's amazing. I use it every day. Don't know what I would do without it! It's not in a great shape at the moment though and could really use some work, especially with the recent OS releases we have had.
    – JonB
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 13:37
  • I'd like to help, did you contact the original dev about forking it?
    – joshperry
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 6:25
  • They're trying to get back in contact with original devs so it can be merged under one product/project.
    – JonB
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 12:34
  • 1
    I find the thing really stable. I use it everyday on all 3 platforms. Although it there are still a lot of bad edge cases to iron out.
    – chakrit
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 20:47
  • 2
    I <3 synergy! I thought it was a dead project though, so this is awesome!
    – James
    Commented Dec 20, 2009 at 21:19
  • 1
    Ohh haw many times have i bumped my mouse against the edge of the screen and stumbled back again... but I want the mouse on THAT computer... and why can't i click on my coffee mug!
    – Arthur Ulfeldt
    Commented Feb 5, 2010 at 20:06
  • 2
    oh please, I'd upvote this five times if I could.
    – Nicolás
    Commented May 2, 2010 at 23:02
226

SSH on Windows

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15
  • 14
    I think this doubles as an ad for figlet too.
    – Tom Ritter Mod
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 15:19
  • 31
    I think you need to make it a bit more contrasty, love the ad and love putty
    – waffles
    Commented Dec 6, 2009 at 0:38
  • Maybe use univers for Putty, and use thick for the subtitle, although then you lose the joke on the epic font. But those fonts are definitely higher-contrast.
    – ベレアー アダム
    Commented Dec 8, 2009 at 23:59
  • 8
    I don't want to steal your idea, but here's my screencap with ANSI color added: img268.imageshack.us/img268/7831/puttyad.png
    – ベレアー アダム
    Commented Dec 9, 2009 at 0:11
  • 4
    This is one of the projects for which I would have used an actual size capture of the upper left just after login. It's recognizable without the ascii art. I didn't know they actually needed developers though, which is what the advertising is about... so mission accomplished.
    – dlamblin
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 15:37
  • This one really got my attention
    – mletterle
    Commented Jan 6, 2010 at 20:49
  • Putty FTW (15 chars)
    – anonymous coward
    Commented Jan 9, 2010 at 13:29
  • This should go the way of Pidgin, along with winscp
    – Chris S
    Commented Jan 12, 2010 at 14:37
  • Putty + Launchy + code.google.com/p/putty-launchy-plugin is a nice combo.
    – jonelf
    Commented Jan 19, 2010 at 16:34
  • 13
    Hard to read image.
    – Donny V.
    Commented Jan 19, 2010 at 18:59
  • You know what, the reality is that this is by far the best ad when it comes to CTR. Don't change a thing!
    – waffles
    Commented Mar 2, 2010 at 3:34
  • Putty :x . FTW \m/
    – Dzung Nguyen
    Commented Mar 10, 2010 at 15:56
  • Huh. Are these fonts hinted?
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 28, 2010 at 22:43
  • Nice. But it is PuTTY, and perhaps it could better be served centered.
    – user147001
    Commented May 12, 2010 at 7:19
  • What would I do without PuTTY on Windows? lol Pretty Epic.
    – Caleb Hearth
    Commented Jun 8, 2010 at 16:48
223

jQuery

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20
  • 41
    I love jQuery as much as the next guy, probably more (I'm wearing a jQuery t-shirt right now and I made a project based on jQuery that I've posted in this thread). That said, do they really need the promotion?? Those guys are doing fine.
    – John Sheehan
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 5:38
  • Was that the point of this? I was was more about the humor.
    – Hogan
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 6:07
  • 3
    I'm not sure making jQuery extensions is more fun than working (unless you're a Barista)
    – Chris S
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 14:26
  • 10
    @Chris: I see you're trying to make coffee for an ungrateful rich yuppie. You should totally drop that and try JQuery instead.
    – John Rudy
    Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 4:31
  • 5
    Yaay, subshells!
    – nailer
    Commented Dec 30, 2009 at 12:38
  • 5
    When I first saw the ad, I thought it was about Prototype. $() isn't specific to jQuery, so you might want to mention jQuery somewhere in the ad.
    – anonymous coward
    Commented Jan 9, 2010 at 13:32
  • @Charlie: It can be for Prototype too -- I'm easy.
    – Hogan
    Commented Jan 10, 2010 at 19:40
  • jQuery is pretty neat, but it does bother me that it's been promoted like it's a done deal it won the JS framework wars - which is far from the case.
    – user132053
    Commented Jan 11, 2010 at 19:15
  • 9
    @cruachan No, no, no, no, no it's a done deal. jQuery's won by a long shot. When Microsoft tells you that they want to include your open source Javascript framework with the next release of their IDE, it's a done deal buddy. Please believe.
    – user130648
    Commented Jan 19, 2010 at 20:45
  • 2
    Mootools didn't want to allow (read: put up with) new users in, and jQuery did. Done deal for people like me.
    – Xeoncross
    Commented Jan 27, 2010 at 20:05
  • @John Sheedan I agree. jQuery is the best, but everyone already knows. Things like Django and big projects like that are where we need support.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 15:47
  • @Chris Making espresso is a lot of fun. I'd do it for a living if it paid well. No joke.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 15:48
  • @Charlie Agreed!
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 15:49
  • It saddens me that jQuery won the framework wars. I believe Prototype is far superior to jQuery.
    – anonymous coward
    Commented Feb 3, 2010 at 7:31
  • 2
    @Charlie Somerville: To me the jQuery docs are way better... For the record I was a big prototype fan before I ever heard about jQuery, and it took only about 2 weeks before I was a convert. jQuery is, in my opinion, better in just about every way when it comes to writing webapps. I also currently develop on WebOS, which uses prototype, so I still use both frameworks a lot. Prototype has some nice features that jQuery doesn't, it's just that the core stuff that you use over and over is much more clumsy. That said, I don't think jQuery needs these advertisements :)
    – TM.
    Commented May 4, 2010 at 16:47
170

Django: the web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

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9
  • 5
    This ad is 250x250 instead of 220x220, which is why it is not showing up.
    – Portman
    Commented Dec 20, 2009 at 14:05
  • @Portman: thank you for making me note this. I hadn't realized that I had used the wrong size.
    – perbert
    Commented Dec 20, 2009 at 15:05
  • 7
    What, no magic pony?
    – Seth
    Commented Jan 7, 2010 at 19:02
  • Feel free to ad another one :) There is some whitespace that could be used.
    – perbert
    Commented Jan 7, 2010 at 23:45
  • There are some smudges on this image.
    – Thomas
    Commented Jan 14, 2010 at 18:27
  • 20
    It should say: "Rails, without the Ruby... Or the suck".
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 15:50
  • Is is possible to change the size ?
    – Natim
    Commented Feb 21, 2010 at 4:42
  • 2
    Awful lot of space left over on the bottom... Instead of the detailed description (the tagline already tells us what django is), I'd add a call to action. 'Come help make the Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines even better!' Maybe a description of who you're looking for (Python devs?). At the very least, capitalize 'high-level'. The inconsistency will drive me nuts.
    – user145347
    Commented Mar 29, 2010 at 0:49
  • @The Big Cheese - I agree with mllerustad. I think that a call to action will elicit more clicks to Django, which will create more Django developers.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Jun 4, 2010 at 16:53
161

The world's most advanced open source database.

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2
128

Legendary hackers hack on Emacs

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8
  • 32
    I know, explaining jokes should be unnecessary, but for those who don't get it: xkcd.com/378
    – Michael Stum
    Commented Dec 20, 2009 at 21:54
  • 3
    Also: scratch (the buffer name) is a pun on scratching your own itches. And '(Lisp)' (the major mode), is in parens, ahem... And 'legendary': you have to assign copyright to the FSF to have your code accepted into Emacs, so you end up on the Roll Call of Honour: a Legend. Or something...
    – Anonymous
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 19:17
  • Uhm, vim fans are going to vote it down :D
    – Flavius A
    Commented Feb 19, 2010 at 17:22
  • This is a great ad. Colorful, easy-to-read text, in-jokes but you don't have to get them to get the gist of the ad... I might make 'Legendary hackers Hack on Emacs' in bold to put the emphasis of the ad there, but it's good as is.
    – user145347
    Commented Mar 29, 2010 at 0:50
  • 2
    btw, what window manager is that from?
    – mlvljr
    Commented Apr 2, 2010 at 8:41
  • EMACS MUST WIN. I do not have enough rep but just signed in to voice my vote, even if I am not rich enough to make it count.
    – NNN
    Commented Apr 21, 2010 at 5:13
  • 2
    @mlvljr: do you want to know the window manager, or the theme?-)
    – tzot
    Commented Apr 22, 2010 at 16:33
  • @tzot what's the theme?
    – aviraldg
    Commented May 11, 2010 at 5:10
125

Help people communicate with Pidgin!

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9
  • Be merciful, I'm a programmer, not a designer...
    – C. Ross
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 22:57
  • +1 from me. Great bit of OS software
    – user132053
    Commented Jan 11, 2010 at 19:11
  • 15
    Great product, but the ad would be better layed out if the pidgeon was on the right looking left. A user looking at the page will see the pidgeon first, follow the pidgeon's eyes, see your tagline (this is good) and then see the edge of the page (this is not so good). This only happens because the advert is placed on the right of the page. The whole page and your advert would feel more ballanced if the user's eye went from pidgeon, to tagline, to the rest of the page.
    – Richard
    Commented Jan 14, 2010 at 11:41
  • I use it, but I would like to see more frameworks and libraries than applications in the ads
    – Jader Dias
    Commented Jan 18, 2010 at 0:21
  • 2
    @Jader Dias Well, to be technical Pidgin is based on the LibPurple library for chat communication, but I thought it'd be harder to make an add for the library.
    – C. Ross
    Commented Jan 18, 2010 at 16:28
  • I agree with all that @Richard said, just reversing the placement of the bird would reverse the flow of the ad and create contrast, drawing the eyes along the tag line. Good ad otherwise! I love Pidgin, and developing for them would be something I'd love to do, should they be looking to expand into the iPhone market! Who's with me; an iPhone app would be stellar.
    – dmanexe
    Commented Feb 2, 2010 at 19:16
  • 3
    ...is...that... is that a Goodfeather??
    – quack quixote
    Commented Apr 20, 2010 at 9:08
  • @danbirlem Excellent idea.
    – C. Ross
    Commented Apr 30, 2010 at 13:41
  • The bird is cute!
    – laanwj
    Commented May 7, 2010 at 7:00
94

Pygame - Python Game Library

Improve this answer
2
  • 4
    +1 love the control at the snake's mouth
    – nosklo
    Commented Mar 29, 2010 at 3:26
  • pygame - great framework, horrible logo, classic :)
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:33
94

SQLite

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    Not sure if they are needing developers, do your justice.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 20, 2010 at 11:27
  • 4
    I think it's fine. SQLite is great, and anyone using it (i.e. programming with it) might end up finding bugs, writing blog posts with tips, etc. I consider that a valid interpretation of the rules. +1
    – balpha StaffMod
    Commented Feb 20, 2010 at 12:26
  • 1
    +1, As far as licensing goes, SQLite is one of the most generous projects that exists. Its also very well maintained, documented and lets not forget its usefulness!
    – user50049
    Commented Mar 2, 2010 at 9:22
  • 1
    for some reason I saw trumpets spelling the word Jazz in a strangely calligraphy, until I moved away from the screen a bit and saw the feather :)
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:35
91

Sugar interface for OLPC

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9
  • 18
    This is a FANTASTIC cause, but that picture needs work
    – waffles
    Commented Dec 20, 2009 at 22:46
  • 13
    This is a FANTASTIC picture.
    – delete
    Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 11:40
  • 6
    The photo is great, it's the rest of the ad (the whole image/'picture') that's the problem. The text isn't clear enough, especially the "OLPC" which is kind of the whole point. Also I'm not sure about the green borders etc.
    – rjmunro
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 13:43
  • Re: OLPC text is unclear; this is simply the location of the photo itself, which is CC-By licensed. You are supposed to be enticed to click the add, not read the small print :-)
    – Anonymous
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 19:11
  • Everyone except developers, the target audience?
    – Kzqai
    Commented Jan 9, 2010 at 0:43
  • 17
    You need a pic of a kid who doesn't look like he's on drugz. This is the most unappealing pic on the whole page.
    – Carl Smotricz
    Commented Jan 9, 2010 at 22:24
  • 2
    Ad needs work, but it's definitely a worthy cause, so still gets my vote
    – Sam Murray-Sutton
    Commented Jan 15, 2010 at 9:39
  • 3
    Also, the link between the ad and the destination isn't totally clear - I expected to see something about education in africa, OLPC or whatever - you at least need the logo for the destination site on the banner.
    – Sam Murray-Sutton
    Commented Jan 15, 2010 at 9:46
  • @everybody: I think most people will know what this is referring to even without clicking the link or seeing the URL. I just came across it, and I felt like it "worked".
    – Joey Adams
    Commented May 29, 2010 at 6:31
84

See...there are some practical applications of genetic algorithms after all.

Improve this answer
10
  • 7
    Apologies for the Northern Hemisphere bias.
    – Dan Dyer
    Commented Dec 8, 2009 at 22:52
  • 7
    +1 for the rip on ID. And for it being a great add. And cool product. Wait that's +3!
    – Portman
    Commented Dec 9, 2009 at 15:00
  • Would be nice if the link worked...
    – Joel Coehoorn Mod
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 14:17
  • @Joel: Works for me.
    – Dan Dyer
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 14:58
  • 11
    @Portman: I didn't see it as a rip on ID; it sounds more like "Even evolutionary algorithms need to be designed." (Even though I've read uncommons.org before and I know it was likely meant as a rip.)
    – mmyers Mod
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 22:03
  • 5
    To be honest, I don't care about the Intelligent Design debate. Evolutionary algorithms work whether you believe in evolution in nature or not. One of the distinctive features of Watchmaker compared to other Java programs is its design. Specifically the way it uses generics and does not require the evolved type to be coupled to any framework classes or interfaces. On occasion I have used the term "intelligent design" to get this point across, playing on the double meaning of the term in this context.
    – Dan Dyer
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 23:15
  • This ad will make no sense at all in the summer.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 22, 2010 at 3:12
  • It's autumn here.
    – Nicolás
    Commented May 2, 2010 at 23:01
  • simple design, good typography, great copy/text +1
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:39
  • @Dan the funny point is that evolution works whether you believe in it or not – just like the Watchmaker framework. ;-)
    – Konrad Rudolph
    Commented Jun 8, 2010 at 7:43
81

FileZilla

Improve this answer
15
  • Had Fire Rodan in there for a minute, but it got too crowded.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 16:39
  • Who needs FileZilla when you can have WinSCP? :P
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 1, 2010 at 17:28
  • 2
    @Alix Axel I haven't tried WinSCP, but FileZilla releases updates all the time, has an easy updater that takes like 30 seconds, supports SFTP, has a great site manager for storing sites, allows you to back everything up in JSON format, supports all the normal stuff like custom ports and passive FTP, and it's blazingly fast.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 2, 2010 at 18:11
  • 1
    Oops forgot... They have a client, and a server, both equally awesome, an awesome logo, and a cool name.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 2, 2010 at 18:13
  • I know, I've used it before. That's why I'm saying I preffer WinSCP! =D
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 3, 2010 at 10:11
  • 1
    @Alix: FileZilla is cross-platform. And from screenshots, WinSCP has a much worse interface.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Commented Feb 5, 2010 at 12:34
  • 6
    @orokusaki Are they actually looking for developers? Seems to me everyone in this thread keeps posting their favourite open source apps without knowing whether they accept help or not.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Commented Feb 5, 2010 at 12:36
  • @DisgruntledGoat I don't know to be honest. I thought all open source projects needed help, but I don't seem to find anything about it on their site now that you mention it. I figured since I've been using it for like 3 years I'd better do my part (I certainly am not learning C any time soon so this is it for me).
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 4:36
  • Based ony my experience WinSCP is horrible and can't transfer files properly at all. I'll definately try FileZilla one of these days as a replacement for it.
    – Esko
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 21:21
  • 1
    @orokusaki You're right, all FOSS projects can use help. Just from my experience of a few apps, the developers seem reticent to take suggestions on board. I'll stop complaining now since this is not directed at FZ really :p
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Commented Feb 10, 2010 at 15:40
  • Filezilla is just awesome. I'd never use anything else.
    – Kyle
    Commented Apr 19, 2010 at 11:46
  • Great stamp, but that is one weird silhouette :)
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:42
  • @George, lol, when it had Fire Rodan in the background behind Godzilla it was even weirder.
    – orokusaki
    Commented May 22, 2010 at 0:26
  • The letters are big / I am a bad haiku scribe / I weep for myself
    – Electro
    Commented May 28, 2010 at 16:00
  • FileZilla is good, but its interface is a horrible mess.
    – Will Vousden
    Commented Jun 1, 2010 at 9:33
81

Notepad++

Improve this answer
14
  • Needs a better image.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Feb 20, 2010 at 23:36
  • @Justin Nelson - jjnguy: Updated it.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 21, 2010 at 1:02
  • @Alix Looks way better.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Feb 21, 2010 at 22:10
  • @Alix: are they taking contributions? I had added a Notepad++ ad, but deleted it after somebody pointed to me that the original developer wasn't taking code.
    – perbert
    Commented Feb 23, 2010 at 16:01
  • @voyager: I'm not sure if he accepts core code, but AFAIK plugins, syntax highlighters, themes and translations are welcome.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 23, 2010 at 16:11
  • 6
    They really need help on their site. No script, tough luck. It's also getting old that every update disables all the existing plug-ins.
    – QueueHammer
    Commented Mar 1, 2010 at 20:26
  • I which I knew how to make this editor work within Visual Studio
    – Zachary Scott
    Commented Mar 12, 2010 at 18:14
  • 6
    More than anything, Notepad++ needs UI improvement.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Commented Apr 16, 2010 at 15:50
  • One of the worst logos I've seen so far, and usually developers don't even bother much. Horrible colours and the software reminds of sciTe, only I like sciTe better -1. I am horrible, I know.
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:47
  • @George: I agree with you on everything, except the sciTE being better.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented May 24, 2010 at 14:23
  • 3
    This editor is promising on many levels, but, in addition to some of the drawbackss mentioned above, this one IMHO needs the touch of someone with really good design sensibilities, and it would be great if it were scriptable in a higher-level language such as javascript, python or ruby (see e.g., Sublime text editor for a comparison sublimetext.com).
    – dreftymac
    Commented May 25, 2010 at 19:54
  • Notepad2 much better.
    – stacker
    Commented May 28, 2010 at 2:20
  • @stacker: I don't agree.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented May 29, 2010 at 19:02
  • @Alix Axel I also agree with you, except I didn't say sciTE is better, it's just me just me that likes it better :P
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 30, 2010 at 21:17
79

I like to move it move it

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4
  • 1
    I'm a crappy graphic designer, I encourage others to make ads for putty and winscp. Shop my images if you wish.
    – Tom Ritter Mod
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 15:33
  • 12
    Product ad, not a call for developers.
    – Ryann Graham
    Commented Jan 29, 2010 at 3:48
  • I made two variations based on the logo and colours on your web site: pekkagaiser.com/stuff/winscp1.png pekkagaiser.com/stuff/winscp2.png Feel free to use them if you like them.
    – Pekka
    Commented Feb 11, 2010 at 21:03
  • image doesn't help.
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:37
78

jQuery Timeago: your server output cache will thank you

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10
  • 23
    Looks like an interesting project, but I object to the "one line of jQuery" part. It's meaningless - anything can be "one line" if you're just calling another function...
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 19:58
  • Heh, it's cool seeing my little project make this list. Thanks.
    – Ryan McGeary
    Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 19:44
  • 14
    Shouldn't "Try it!" be more like "Help us write it!"? As-is, seems to be advertising the product rather than soliciting development as an open project. Though it appears this is a common issue (but "try it" overemphasizes it, perhaps?), isn't the request for ads "soliciting the participation and contribution"? Have I misunderstood?
    – Gnome
    Commented Jan 7, 2010 at 23:53
  • Roger, You have to try it before you would ever consider contributing. The more people that use a project, the more likely someone will come along to help out with it.
    – Ryan McGeary
    Commented Jan 8, 2010 at 2:42
  • 1
    Ryan: that argument doesn't seem to work for some ads: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/31913/… I like the concept of timeago and I'm glad to have found out about it through this Q, just trying to improve the ad.
    – Gnome
    Commented Jan 8, 2010 at 14:40
  • 4
    Irony: stackoverflow.uservoice.com/pages/1722-general/suggestions/…
    – Rob Fonseca-Ensor
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 9:14
  • 2
    @DisgruntledGoat - no, one line is still important when you're asking someone to implement your code. One added line is tremendously easier to ask for as compared to 10 lines involving configuration and conditional calls.
    – jsoverson
    Commented Feb 15, 2010 at 10:53
  • 1
    @jsoverson: I see what you're getting at, but like I said, you can make any code "one line", whether it's one function of a whole lotta config. Practically all jQuery plugins are one line anyway, plus you also need to include jQuery and the plugin code and some document.ready code, so it's far from your definition of "one line" anyway.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Commented Apr 7, 2010 at 15:46
  • anyone else sees a hand with 3 uniformly fading fingers, which one would expect to fade incrementally for some reason ?
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:41
  • Wow, this page called me a loser
    – kibibu
    Commented Jun 3, 2010 at 3:13
72

How do you implement full-text search for that 10+ million row table, keep up with the load, and stay relevant? Sphinx is good at those kinds of riddles.

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8
  • Sphinx is an important part of my site - I figured that this would be a nice way to thank the developers.
    – outcassed
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 1:10
  • 6
    PS - the art is a legit purchase from iStockphoto and legal to use in a digital advertisement.
    – outcassed
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 1:11
  • Sphinx rules! very professional looking ad.
    – waffles
    Commented Dec 5, 2009 at 10:35
  • 3
    Can't vote this one up because I'm too new on meta :(
    – Julien Tartarin
    Commented Dec 19, 2009 at 17:50
  • 5
    very professional, but it doesn't actually show a sphinx. silhouettes of egyptian gods aren't really the same thing.
    – quack quixote
    Commented Feb 7, 2010 at 20:40
  • I'm a fan of Sphinx
    – Sam Soffes
    Commented Mar 9, 2010 at 21:19
  • This is confusing, I thought it was for sphinx the python documentation engine sphinx.pocoo.org
    – hasen
    Commented Mar 13, 2010 at 19:13
  • nice illustration
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:43
66

Firebird RDBMS - Simple, Powerful, Scalable, Fast - Join us

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3
  • 1
    Big thanks to Carlos Cantu for the banner design.
    – Douglas Tosi
    Commented Dec 20, 2009 at 12:17
  • 1
    While there might be FB users on SO, I don't see a good way to tell them to come to meta.
    – Milan Babuškov
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 15:08
  • I came here for the Watchmaker framework ad and stayed for the JQuerySharp ad. :) But it so happens I'm a fan of Firebird too.
    – Carl Smotricz
    Commented Jan 8, 2010 at 14:58
62

RestSharp: .NET REST Client

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7
  • 8
    beautiful sign }# - rest sharp!
    – Shimmy Weitzhandler
    Commented Jan 10, 2010 at 3:52
  • Yay! This is nice. So many people (at least in Sweden) don't get that it is a sharp sign, not a "quadruple plus" or something. Here it is obvious. Great ad!
    – Johan
    Commented Jan 23, 2010 at 14:44
  • 2
    I figured anyone who could recognize a rest symbol would also recognize the sharp....
    – Jimmy
    Commented Feb 5, 2010 at 0:00
  • I'm not sure I like the "Fork it." statement. I know what it means, many developers who come here will know what it means, but it still sounds almost insulting, and more so to people who don't know the technical term "fork".
    – Ricket
    Commented Feb 10, 2010 at 19:12
  • knife it. stab it. tooth it.. :)
    – mlvljr
    Commented Apr 2, 2010 at 8:45
  • 1
    "Fork it" / "Fork me" was stupid to begin with and now it's just getting really old.
    – macek
    Commented May 4, 2010 at 19:04
  • Simple and effective +1
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:50
58

Contribute to Eclipse

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6
  • 3
    Add a impacting phrase will make the Ad much more interesting.
    – Nathan Campos
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 15:14
  • @Nathan: I was considering that, but didn't have anything witty on my mind. And the official phrases don't seem perfect in this context either, as I feel Contribute to Eclipse is a bit dull here and Get involved! of course is too generic. So I decided to stick to just the official logo in its current state for now. Also, I think there is reason to hope the logo will be easily recognized by people that could be interested in contributing to Eclipse.
    – Fabian Steeg
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 16:18
  • 2
    You need to let people know you are asking for help though. No one is going to click on it (even if it just "Eclipse") if you don't.
    – Catharsis
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 2:03
  • @Austin: Yes true, added a caption. Thanks, also @Nathan.
    – Fabian Steeg
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 11:39
  • [Eclipse Logo] Don't scream at it - help us make it screaming fast!
    – scunliffe
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 13:08
  • not very original, but quite ok.
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:50
57

Drupal.org: when you can't pin all the blame on PHP.

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24
  • 18
    plz send us the developers!!!1
    – perbert
    Commented Feb 17, 2010 at 5:26
  • 1
    Re: point 2: the move to Git is underway.
    – ceejayoz
    Commented Feb 20, 2010 at 5:08
  • 16
    Hilarous (and unfortunately accurate). Still, it may annoy Drupal more than help them.
    – Macha
    Commented Feb 20, 2010 at 12:40
  • 11
    Downvote. This is not what ads are for.
    – Agnel Kurian
    Commented Feb 25, 2010 at 9:55
  • 3
    Too many words!
    – Joe Polski
    Commented Feb 27, 2010 at 3:14
  • 7
    I've been using (and developping for/with) Drupal for almost 10 months, and what this "ad" says is, unfortunatly, true... But I really don't think this will attract developpers that could help the project : as a PHP developper, I don't want to go develop Drupal when I see this (Even if I know some nice things can be done with it -- imagine if I didn't know...)
    – Pascal MARTIN
    Commented Mar 8, 2010 at 19:34
  • 7
    Nice things can be done with Drupal, and nice things can be said about Drupal, but the spaghetti behind the scenes and other "inconvenient truths" are just bubbling beneath the surface. This ad is just one tiny attempt to address the issue with some humor, instead of ignoring it, and letting good developers abandon the project because they think everyone must be happy with the status quo.
    – dreftymac
    Commented Mar 10, 2010 at 0:57
  • 1
    -1 for completely missing the SO freehand circle meme.
    – tvanfosson
    Commented Mar 15, 2010 at 19:41
  • 1
    Meh, this ad sucks. It's trying to hard to be ironic.
    – JP Silvashy
    Commented Mar 21, 2010 at 19:27
  • 2
    Yes, insulting the project is a terribly mature way to help Drupal.
    – John Fiala
    Commented Mar 28, 2010 at 1:50
  • 2
    @John Fiala: Sometimes that's the best way to motivate somebody to fix their stuff the heck up - and as an advert, it lets a potential programmer know what they're getting in to, so they're less likely to simply leave when they see the project from the inside. Now -that- is a bad way to help :P
    – Phoshi
    Commented Mar 28, 2010 at 10:34
  • Why drive developers to a project that produces developers frustrated enough to make this kind of ad? Because 29 people liked it? Antagonizing something is almost always a bad idea.
    – user50049
    Commented Apr 2, 2010 at 15:25
  • @Tim Post probably more like 43 people upvoted and 14 people downvoted (assuming a 1:1 mapping between votes and people).
    – dreftymac
    Commented Apr 5, 2010 at 23:34
  • 4
    This is the most hilarious advert I have seen in my life. When you get used to hacking around with the quirky user interface, you can do a huge amount on Drupal without writing a single line of code. But the second you want to start writing code, OH NO!
    – Finbarr
    Commented Apr 10, 2010 at 22:42
  • 3
    @ax: I respect your viewpoints. Nevertheless, the ad says "please help" and links to drupal contribute: 100% meeting the ad requirements. ALSO, nowhere does it say Drupal is a "crappy" CMS. There no denying there is some very un-pretty spaghetti in there though, many Drupal veterans make this point themselves on blogs and in archives of past Drupalcons on screencast
    – dreftymac
    Commented May 13, 2010 at 22:57
56

Kernel Newbies: gotta start somewhere

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16
  • 3
    He looks like a shinier Alan Moore.
    – random
    Commented Dec 24, 2009 at 2:54
  • 45
    Is Alan's face the best way to promote kernel hacking?
    – perbert
    Commented Dec 26, 2009 at 4:58
  • 5
    Yeah, this isn't ideal. I was originally going to have it say "Newbies Wanted" but that seemed to much like taking the piss, where as I just wanted to poke gentle fun. It was then going to be a playing card: Kernel Hacker Cards, collect them all, but I didn't like the suite emblems in each corner. I guess I removed too much and it's now just a man with a beard. Oh well, maybe some one else will be inspired to try harder.
    – Anonymous
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 19:21
  • 2
    This guy is like a god to me!
    – Nathan Campos
    Commented Jan 13, 2010 at 16:47
  • 9
    if the Evony clone is disallowed, this should be disallowed as well!
    – Marek
    Commented Jan 15, 2010 at 8:32
  • 4
    Did anyone else have a "Shining" moment when this popped up in SO? Heeere's Johnny! imdb.com/title/tt0081505/quotes, imdb.com/media/rm3631716352/tt0081505
    – tvanfosson
    Commented Jan 16, 2010 at 17:10
  • AFAICS this advert has the best click-through rate of the adverts right now. Alan must have a friendly face :)
    – U62
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 14:25
  • 2
    I agree with the Shining quote. I didn't click on it until i read these comments because and was still fuzzy on what this was actually for. This add and dancing baby mortgage adjustment ads may have high click though but they are more smoke than genuine interest. The project is cool, it deserves a better ad.
    – QueueHammer
    Commented Feb 12, 2010 at 15:38
  • 2
    This ad is so conspicious that I just had to click on it! And then I checked the text below the ad and it lead me to this page and learn to know about the OS ads. So it must be good.
    – frunsi
    Commented Feb 15, 2010 at 0:29
  • 2
    For some reason this looks more like "Alan Cox - R.I.P." to me.
    – Georg Fritzsche
    Commented Feb 26, 2010 at 2:00
  • 2
    This is probably the most effective image in terms of getting clickthroughs. I know I've clicked it before, just because Alan Cox's face is so damn alluring.
    – rjh
    Commented Mar 6, 2010 at 16:56
  • 1
    It's a fan boy poster in a man crush sort of way. Unnerving at best. My mind keeps asking: upon clicking, will this picture invite me to the gates of kernel hacking or the gates of Hades?
    – John K
    Commented May 7, 2010 at 13:01
  • I think Alan Cox wants to sex me.
    – user1228
    Commented May 20, 2010 at 13:46
  • like Tux was even necessary :)
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:52
  • Awesome. That is all.
    – fmark
    Commented Jun 8, 2010 at 4:51
52

Get started with hacking on GHC!

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6
  • 4
    imgur.com/MxSqK.gif What do you think of this, gbacon? The one you posted is really blurry.
    – Catharsis
    Commented Feb 9, 2010 at 2:37
  • @Austin Animation is verboten.
    – Greg Bacon
    Commented Mar 4, 2010 at 16:41
  • cool image/lambda reference.
    – chakrit
    Commented Mar 14, 2010 at 20:17
  • Not sure if the glossy gradient and the drop shadow was necessary. Clever symbol though.
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:55
  • @chakrit: Isn't that just a rendition of the Haskell logo? (Which is a cross between a lambda and ">>=" (which is pronounced bind).)
    – SamB
    Commented Feb 12, 2012 at 23:27
  • @AustinKelleyWay: The "cursor visible" frame would probably work nicely as a still, though!
    – SamB
    Commented Feb 12, 2012 at 23:30
45

Clojure is looking for contributors and programmers.

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7
  • My potentially lousy attempt at creating a nice ad for Clojure. Comments appreciated.
    – user131177
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 14:27
  • 8
    I'd move the "it" into the next line, so the lines are more visually balanced.
    – C. K. Young
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 18:43
  • 6
    Unless you wanted to emphasise the "wrong", in which case, shrink the text on the line above it. :-)
    – C. K. Young
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 18:43
  • 2
    Up yours, buddy! Your momma did it wrong!
    – P Daddy
    Commented Feb 22, 2010 at 12:31
  • Hmm. Some people might get confused and think it's just that they aren't doing state the right way, rather than realize that state is the wrong way...
    – SamB
    Commented Apr 28, 2010 at 22:40
  • hate that j. interesting colours, but what's up with that logo, I mean I'm not sure if it's trying to be a tnuva(tnuva.co.il/site/EN/tnuva.asp?pi=20) or a scheme logo(upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/… talking about colour distribution, not just the lambda in a circle
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 22:11
  • @SamB For those people, there's clojure tutorials?
    – Kzqai
    Commented Feb 12, 2012 at 22:53
45

Of course you'll run NetBSD

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3
  • 1
    I think "How can I help" is all that is needed here.. the tiny text should be axed, and the flag and "how can I help" made larger
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 7:01
  • Okay; the old one is at: i48.tinypic.com/2dah88x.png I just took it from netbsd.org/gallery/advocacy/flyer.pdf because there isn't really a great landing page for recruitment as such.
    – dlamblin
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 8:12
  • not in balance, also, have I seen this orange/gray logo combination before in the world of software ? hmmm...
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 21:57
43

Ruby on Rails - we are in beta! help, docs, patches are welcome!

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6
  • 2
    Ruby on Rails - few weeks to rails3 beta! help, docs, patches are welcome!
    – makevoid
    Commented Feb 2, 2010 at 15:19
  • 23
    I've never really understood why Ruby on Rails' logo looks more like a strip of film than a railroad. Maybe it should be Ruby on Film Location which could be shortened to ROFL.
    – orokusaki
    Commented Feb 4, 2010 at 21:23
  • 6
    I always thought it looked like the tentacle things from Half-Life.
    – hobbs
    Commented Feb 8, 2010 at 4:30
  • 1
    Looks like a wizard hat to me. I like it!
    – Bua
    Commented Mar 1, 2010 at 19:25
  • To report a bug and/or submit a patch: rails.lighthouseapp.com/projects/8994-ruby-on-rails/tickets
    – makevoid
    Commented Apr 7, 2010 at 4:46
  • @orokusaki, me neither, but it makes the logo awesome. Literal rails might not reach most people. Don't like the orange background and the second ruby. Clean white background might have worked better (cleaner, nicely aired out)
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 22:01
43

The R-Project for Statistical Computing

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8
  • 2
    SOMEBODY set us up the bomb!
    – JD Long
    Commented Feb 19, 2010 at 19:15
  • 8
    @JD Long: No, "somebody set up us the bomb". :-P Don't swap the "up" and "us" around! :-)
    – C. K. Young
    Commented Feb 25, 2010 at 3:16
  • Logo is tacky. Hey 1991, we have internet webpage.
    – macek
    Commented May 4, 2010 at 19:07
  • @macek: I agree, but that's what we have to live with...
    – Shane
    Commented May 6, 2010 at 16:15
  • Although the logo might safely ride with Michael J Fox straight Back to the Future, I think that's a strong point, as I read: "to busy with the Maths, don't care about the logo, don't need to." For some reason, the nerdier the logo is in a scientific software, the more I believe in the app. +1
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 22:15
  • Can't search R on Stack Overflow!
    – ilhan
    Commented Jun 1, 2010 at 0:03
  • @ilhan: sure you can; just enter [r] into the search window. It's a very popular tag.
    – Shane
    Commented Jun 1, 2010 at 13:27
  • I actually think the logo looks pretty nice. It's certainly a lot better than Haskell's old one was! (Man that thing was so busy...)
    – SamB
    Commented Feb 12, 2012 at 23:36
42

Life's basic utilities. You depend on them, they depend on you

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4
  • Is poor vs pour a pun on users of ext2fs?
    – dlamblin
    Commented Dec 21, 2009 at 8:59
  • 1
    It is a pun on anyone who sees a message with 'fsck' in it in general, because at that moment you're fsck'd. I had originally thought fsck on Linux was part of a general utilities package, and that's what I was advertising, but actually it is it's own package: e2fsprogs. Oh well, I think people still get the idea, and it is moderately amusing...
    – Anonymous
    Commented Jan 1, 2010 at 19:14
  • Ted Ts'o will give you a big hug for this. e2fsprogs are anything but rewarding to maintain.
    – user50049
    Commented Mar 15, 2010 at 4:46
  • 1
    got the fancy fcuk and other fashion references, but the poor homme in a domain dominated by males, that seems a bit much, if not sexist...and it could not even be intentional. like the discreet poor/pour thing though.
    – George Profenza
    Commented May 21, 2010 at 22:05
38

SciPy, the Matlab Killer

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5
  • Sorry, I could not find a better image. I am not even associated with the project, but I LOVE IT and I hope someone comes up with a better logo.
    – Joe Polski
    Commented Feb 27, 2010 at 3:22
  • 1
    Please correct to the specified format.
    – waiwai933
    Commented Feb 27, 2010 at 3:46
  • 1
    @waiwai933: Fixed image.
    – Alix Axel
    Commented Feb 27, 2010 at 12:47
  • 1
    How did this get the huge number of votes on the listing?
    – Daniel A. White
    Commented Mar 3, 2010 at 12:22
  • Fun logo, totally needs a call to action.
    – Kzqai
    Commented Feb 12, 2012 at 22:56
37

Castle Project http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8121/text2924821.png

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1
1
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