Four Things Open Source Projects Should Know About Dealing with the Press

"A journalist who's looking at open source projects to include in an article about, say, Highly anticipated open-source releases coming in '09, won't necessarily have the first idea what your project is about, its current status, or whom to contact. Create a /press page (just like the commercial software companies do) with this information, which can also include ready-to-use screen shots, press releases, and previous mentions in the press.

"This is not a matter of us indulging in journalist laziness. When I was working on candidates for that article, I looked at lots of sites, probably over a hundred of them. Several open source projects seemed to have an imminent release, but I couldn't find a straight-up definition of the project, much less an answer to "Why should I care?" or "What're you working on?" Or (be still, my beating heart) someone to contact to ask for more information. Who might actually respond. This month."

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