This document provides tips for identifying future-proof open source projects. It recommends focusing on projects that host conferences and have vibrant communities, as evidenced by trends in Google searches, numbers of downloads, recent updates, and user reviews. Engaging with expert blogs, conferences, mind maps and social media can help filter useful information and stay proactive in exploring potential projects.

1. HOW TO
IDENTIFY
FUTURE PROOF
OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS
Henry Huang
09.2013

2. In the Old Days

3. Anyone Remember

4. Classified Information

5. Content Indexing

6. GOOGLE CAN ANSWER

7. Do Math
1+1=2

8. Convert Units

9. Help You Think
with
Realtime Results

10. Help You Shop

11. EVEN THIS
How old is Michael Jackson?

12. AND THIS
Best buffet in Vegas?

13. Google Doesn’t Do Multiple Choice
YET

14. Not Straight Answer

15. But We are Smarter, Right?
Hmmm....

16. I Know How to Search with
Keywords

17. Duh! Everybody Does

18. Some Even Use it to Trick
YOU

19. Because Google is
Biased

20. WA
T!

21. PageRank

22. Search Engine Optimization
SEO

23. Regions (Language Barriers)

24. TYPICAL SEARCH RESULTS
• Popular
• Some
but Outdated Piece of Information
Commercial Websites

25. Resolve
Search Engine Short Comings

26. Narrow Down Search Results

27. Comparison Charts

28. Use Comparative Terms

29. What’s the best “keywords”...

30. A vs B vs C

31. Fight SEO

32. Search More Recent Results

33. Search Blogs

34. Search the “Right” Words

35. Ask Expert’s Opinion

36. Colleagues

37. Groups

38. Mailing List
or
Forum

39. FUTURE PROOF

40. Focus on Projects that Host
Conferences

41. Find Conference Slides

42. Find Conference Videos

43. Make Sure the Community is
VIBRANT

44. ❰Google Trend❱

45. Google Trend Graphs

46. Open Source Project Activity

47. Number of Downloads

48. When was the Last Update?

49. User Review/Rating
(Source Forge Only)

50. User Review/Rating
(Source Forge Only)

51. ❰Case Studies❱

52. ❰Scalability
Interoperability❱

53. Lots of New Terminologies

54. ¢ommercial $upport

55. ❰Be Proactive❱

56. Subscribe to Expert Blogs

57. Organize Ideas with ...

58. Mind Maps

59. Evernote

60. Subscribe to
Conference Slides & Videos

61. Social Media ¿

62. Filtering Useful Content