I find myself wanting to develop certain projects, but most of the time I lack motivation because I develop by myself.
What I usually do is look for similar existing projects, and ask the developers if they like to collaborate, but it's rather hard.
Is there a good place (a website maybe) to find people that are interested in the same project as me, and therefore would like to collaborate?
You code by yourself?
Release the code on one of the open-source foundries. (code.google.com. sf.net. bitbucket.org , github.com ,etc...)
Pick an easy license (x11/MIT is good, GPL2/3/AGPL3 if you like, among others.)
Write simple instructions on how to deploy, run, with a one-page tutorial.
Have a website where you write about the stuff you build, and the stuff you'd like to build.
Find people who need some help and help them. Don't over-extend yourself.
It takes time to build trust. Trust takes time.
You wrote:
What I usually do is look for similar existing projects, and ask the developers if they like to collaborate, but it's rather hard.
If you see an open-source project out there, odds are the developers already like to collaborate. What they might not want to do is talk about grand schemes about how to turn the software into the next fifty billion-dollar behemoth. Generally, if you join the mailing list, introduce yourself ("Hi, I'm Joe, and I like to do X, and I like this software."), get and use the software, and provide feedback and constructive criticism, and demonstrate that you are following instructions or at least attempting to, and then, then, if you provide a patch (or a branch if github) it might be looked at and considered.
Do follow the project methodology. For example, if they use tests, submit tests with your patch, that sort of thing.
I tried myself to start an open source project and failed. I had published my idea in a forum and there were about 10 or 15 people who wanted to join the project. Actually there were very little activity ...
I think the main reason for the failure was that I hadn't developed anything before going public. It would have been really useful to have at least a prototype. Another thing is defining a (simple) development process.
If I would try it again, I would:
Check out the offerings at github.com. If you can use git, I often find some cool projects on there, and you can always fork the repository to help out.
First, you should register your project on an Open Source Forge. There is a comparison list on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_source_software_hosting_facilities
On certain forges, there is a way to ask for help. I know that SourceForge does: https://sourceforge.net/people/
I recommend that you read Karl Fogel's excellent and complete book on the subject : Producing Open Source Software. It is freely available online or in print from Amazon.
