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Should we open source it?

Should we open source it?“Extract the 300 lines that matter. Publish those. Delete the rest.”Riley Novak, The Minimalist

💡 WHY RILEY IS RIGHT

Most internal tools are a small, genuinely useful core wrapped in company-specific glue: deploy scripts, hardcoded hostnames, auth to systems nobody outside has. Publishing all of it means maintaining all of it in public, including the parts that only make sense here. Extracting the reusable kernel into a small library keeps the surface tiny, keeps the README short, and forces a clear boundary that improves the internal code too. Less published code means fewer issues to answer.

✅ RIGHT WHEN

A small, self-contained piece is valuable on its own and the rest is local plumbing.

🚩 TOO FAR WHEN

The extracted library is so minimal that nobody can tell what it is for.

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