mietkiewski_dev

joined 4 days ago

Fair point — I get where you’re coming from. I’m still experimenting with distribution, so this setup isn’t final. GitHub Pages might be a cleaner option, I’ll check it out.

[–] mietkiewski_dev@programming.dev 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I didn’t know GitHub Pages was a thing for this use case. I’ll look into it — it might be a better fit for future projects.

 

I’ve been experimenting with building very small personal tools to help myself stay focused. One of them is a tiny terminal‑based Pomodoro timer.

For this project I’m trying a different distribution model: it’s closed‑source in the licensing sense, but the code is source‑available. The actual download with code is on Gumroad, where I’m testing a pay‑what‑you‑want model 0$+.

In this setup, GitHub works more like a landing page / documentation hub rather than a place where the full source lives.

Since I’m still learning how to distribute tiny solo tools in a way that feels “fair” and reasonable, I’m curious how other developers see this approach:

Is using GitHub as a landing page acceptable when the code isn’t hosted there?

Does PWYW 0$+ make sense for small, simple tools?

How do you usually distribute your own micro‑projects?

For context, here’s the project I’m experimenting with:

GitHub: https://github.com/Mietkiewski/MPomidoro

That applies to licensed software. Here you’re not buying a license — just the right to use the tool. A license is only needed if someone wants to copy, modify or redistribute it.

[–] mietkiewski_dev@programming.dev 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Buying the product gives people the right to use it — the license is only needed for redistribution or modifying the files. But yeah, you’re right that adding a license would make everything clearer. I’ll include one next time to avoid any confusion.

[–] mietkiewski_dev@programming.dev 2 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Just to clarify — I don’t have any issue with people analyzing or quoting small parts of the code. The project is intentionally distributed on Gumroad as a “0$+” closed‑source release rather than as an open‑source GitHub repo. Since there’s no license file, it defaults to all rights reserved, which means full files can’t be redistributed.

Part of this project is also a learning exercise for me in how to package and distribute small tools. I’m genuinely interested in feedback on this approach.

But if someone posts the entire file publicly, it makes it harder for me to actually demonstrate the distribution model I’m experimenting with — the whole point was to release it through Gumroad, not as a fully exposed source dump.

Nice... Music definitely helps.

[–] mietkiewski_dev@programming.dev -2 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Hey, could you remove the full Main.py from your comment? The project is closed‑source, so sharing the entire file isn’t allowed. Thanks!

Nice. For me those first steps always stretch out… I sit down “just to start” and suddenly 20 minutes are gone.

[–] mietkiewski_dev@programming.dev 2 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I’m still experimenting with what helps me start working. If you have any small rituals or tricks, I’d love to hear them.

 

I kept struggling to sit down and start my side projects, so I tried reading more about productivity and motivation. At some point I realized I just needed something simple to get me moving — so I wrote a tiny Pomodoro timer in Python.

It’s intentionally minimal: you enter the title, work time, break time, and number of intervals. After the session it generates a short report and asks you to write your own conclusion. I like reviewing these later, so I added that part for myself.

I enjoy building small tools instead of searching for the “perfect” app, and Python made it easy to keep everything clean and simple.

Works on Windows & Linux, pure Python.

GitHub: https://github.com/Mietkiewski/MPomidoro
Gumroad PWYW $0+: https://mietkiewski.gumroad.com/l/mpomidoro

[–] mietkiewski_dev@programming.dev 3 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Starting has always been the hardest part for me. Curious what helps you get going — I’m still figuring it out myself.

 

I was struggling to sit down and start my side projects, so I began reading more about productivity and motivation. Eventually I ended up writing a tiny Pomodoro timer for my terminal — mostly just to help myself get moving.

It’s super minimal: you enter the title, work time, break time, and number of intervals. At the end it generates a simple session report and asks you to write your own conclusion. I like reading my own reports later, so I added that feature.

I also enjoy reading short reports and summaries, so adding them felt natural. And honestly, I prefer building simple tools myself rather than hunting for the “perfect” app.

Works on Windows & Linux, needs only Python.

GitHub: https://github.com/Mietkiewski/MPomidoro
Gumroad PWYW $0+: https://mietkiewski.gumroad.com/l/mpomidoro