First-timers can have a hard time getting started with open source. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Open-source projects are dependent on an engaged community of contributors, but fostering that community comes with its challenges. Depending on what stage an open source project is at, what the community needs from contributors changes. The good news is that intentional coaching and engagement from project maintainers can work at any stage.

When Autodesk changed their license for Fusion 360 in September of 2020 there was a collective scream from the user community. Hobbyists, YouTubers, and makers felt betrayed. Now, after more than two years, we can see the effect. Many of those people left Fusion and never looked back.

On August 17, 2022 the FreeCAD community celebrated its 20th anniversary as an open source project. That was an important milestone … and it passed with hardly anyone noticing. There was another important development last year and it barely got any more attention, even though it was far more consequential.

Ondsel is launched!

Technically, we started life at the beginning of January 2023. The last few weeks have had us busy with the logistics of launching, getting a website up, activating our internal tools, and figuring out how we fit into the greater FreeCAD ecosystem. Those details are done so it's time to start talking about the opportunity we have.