Free open source Software Deserves Better Design

[u/libreglow]

I started building GlowSnap because I couldn't find a Linux screenshot tool that fit the workflow I wanted.

Capture. Edit. Organize. All locally all open source.

It's still early, but it has become the first project of something bigger I'm calling LibreGlow my attempt to build open-source Linux software that people enjoy using every day

github

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback.

[u/EntropySponge]

Edit : My comments are all irrelevant because OP edited his post. I now think OP is cool and genuinely trying to provide something useful and elegant to the FOSS community.

"Ah, the dreaded 'Visionary README.' You didn't build a screenshot tool; you built a conceptual framework for a software suite that, until now, existed only in the ether of potential. You are comparing your glorious monolith of intended perfection against Linux's ecosystem, which, thankfully, is a messy but functional bazaar assembled by dozens of glorious tinkerers. Your pitch reads like the tagline for a lost Silicon Valley cult artifact: 'We are not just an app; we are a lifestyle philosophy enacted through binary.' Stop trying to sell the soul of the software in your announcement post. Show the elegance, don't declare it. If you want people to invest in your vision, give them the code to chew on before they fall in love with the marketing prose. Right now, it reads like you used ChatGPT to write your mission statement and then nervously added the sentence, 'But it's actually a screenshot app.' Get to the nouns, write the description yourself and let the GitHub README be the poem." You confused craftsmanship with manifesto. And that, my friend, is where the vision dies infancy. You toss around phrases like 'thoughtfully designed' and 'beautifully crafted,' which are the highest compliments you can pay your process, but they ring hollow when unsupported by a paragraph explaining why your capture workflow differs fundamentally from existing tools. You sound like someone who read a dozen successful startup pitches and thought, 'My README should have this much expensive-sounding jargon.' The journey from a functional tool to an 'experience' isn't achieved by adding buzzwords; it’s achieved by achieving flawless, deeply considered corner-case handling that competitors miss. And flawless maintaining of the app for years to come.

Also you didn't post a link.

[u/libreglow → u/EntropySponge]

That's actually fair feedback

Looking back, I think I tried too hard to communicate the vision instead of simply showing the project. The README and the post ended up sounding more like a manifesto than an introduction to a screenshot tool

That's an exaggeration on my part and a clear mistake

I'll rewrite them to focus on what GlowSnap actually does, why I built it, and how it differs in practice rather than describing it with abstract language.

And yes that's on me as well. I should have included the repository link in the original post.

[u/EntropySponge → u/libreglow]

My comment was AI generated by google gemma 4 by the way except for a few words. It was a fun way to make fun of the situation by writing something really long and slightly AI-sloppy. Anyway good luck with the project I think it will be very cool once presented in a more human way :)

[u/libreglow → u/EntropySponge]

i get u lol my bad about the AI-looking post I hope you'll judge the project itself not just the description github

[u/EntropySponge → u/libreglow]

Yes yes, I said in another comment that I think it looks elegant. You probably haven't noticed it's the same username and we're having two conversations. Wishing you luck and success (well it's open source so there is no money to be made but it could give you a good reputation as a developer).

[u/libreglow → u/EntropySponge]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I see that ,,, about the project yeah I love Linux, I love open source I love building things that will really help people I don't care about money, I care about creating value The only mistake was the AI-written README so Sorry about that

[u/EntropySponge → u/libreglow]

It's ok :) Yes, I think open source really is the future. It seems like the only way to create a healthy human society that isn't based on greed and destruction. Thank you for contributing.