The Story of Spaz: How to Give Away Everything, Make No Money, and Still Win

"Spaz":http://getspaz.com is a mature, open source, free desktop and mobile client for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Palm webOS. Started in Spring of 2007, Spaz is one of the oldest Twitter clients available still under active development. Other systems have gone on to great commercial and popular success, but Spaz still continues to plug along, driven by a commitment to open standards, transparency, and community.

This talk will cover the history of Spaz's development, from early successes and awards, to competition from well-funded closed source projects, to the transition onto mobile, and finding a sustainable niche where it continues to grow.

Specific topics we'll cover include:

• Changing how you measure success
• Ignoring what everyone tells you about being successful
• Doing it for love, not money
• How one user can be more important than 100,000 downloads
• What to expect when you open your code
• Getting others involved in your project
• Creating a codebase for multiple platforms and systems
• Being open on a closed platform