Creating a World-Class (and Open Source) Product
Our Most Important Takeaways from our Interview with Matthias Kofferlein (Creator of Klayout)
The First Road Bump
“In my particular case no one was interested in such a tool inside the company, so they wouldn't put effort into developing such a tool when you can just buy it”
The Process
“You start with an experiment, then it grows, then you think it might be useful, then you develop it on your own”
“What I think is important is, you need to have a vision, the path you want to follow and the goal you want to achieve.”
A Fork in the Road: Business or Open Source
“During the financial crisis I considered making a business out of that, but I dropped this idea because of the level of entry. And as a single person, you cannot really make a business; it's too specialized as people can just buy mentor or cadence”
The Motivation
“I felt that there was a lot of positive feedback which gives you a good feeling about what you do, and for me, that's payment enough.”
“And, you go to India, one and a half billion people, and they know you. So that's actually pretty rewarding.”
“My experience is that people like to try things, and then once they are stuck, they approach me. And this is exactly what open source is about. There's no barrier, you can just install it and try it yourself.”
Maintaining and Growing and Open Source Tool
“Now it's actually growing and I feel that it could grow a lot more. And there's a point now where I'm happy that people jump in and take over these kind of let's say, add on activities. I feel that right now it's going to become a community project rather than a single person activity.”
“I still try to keep the documentation effort lower than the coding effort, so that it prioritizes code still.”
I think there are many ideas, and I still pursue some of them, but it's too much to do everything that people request. But it's not closed, it's not in maintenance mode only, it's not bug fixing only.”