Can I promote my own project here?
Yes, conditionally. You can share your own project with the Promotional flair, as long as you follow Reddit's self promotion guidance and don't turn the sub into a link farm.
Subreddit guides
r/opensource rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/opensource: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 385,563
- Verified
- September 29, 2026
- Category
- Technical product and developer communities
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- Be Respectful: This shouldn't need to be a rule, but this is the internet. People can unnecessarily be jerks sometimes. We'd much appreciate it if this wasn't a place where that happens. Please refrain from talking down to people, being overly patronizing, name-calling, personal insults, etc. **Hate speech of any kind will not** be tolerated. For a refresher, please see Reddit's entry on [Reddiquette](https://www.reddit.com/wiki/reddiquette) as a general guideline.
- No Spam or Excessive Self-Promotion: Reddit has clear rules about [self promotion](https://reddit.com/wiki/selfpromotion). We encourage you to be proud of/promote your work to a degree, but we also don't want users using this sub as a link farm to promote their project/website/YouTube channel. Reddit recommends that <10% of your posts promote your content. We're a *little* more forgiving, but don't take advantage of it. *"It's perfectly fine to be a redditor with a website, it's not okay to be a website with a reddit account."*
- Memes & Low-Effort Posts: This sub is a place for discussion and news regarding the world of open source projects. There are literally hundreds of other subs dedicated to memes and shitposting. Please keep those kinds of posts in those subs. All AI-generated content is low-effort and ban worthy.
- Be On-Topic: Posts should be of direct relevance to the open source community. Off-topic posts will be removed. Code or repositories linked to MUST have a LICENSE file that MUST be an OSI listed Open Source license: https://opensource.org/licenses
- No Sensationalized Titles: If your post is a link to an article, please keep your post title as close to, if not the same as, the linked article's title. You're more than welcome to post a comment in the thread that states your opinion of said article.
- No Drive-By Posting / Karma Farming: Karma farm accounts are not going to be welcome here, regardless of the validity of the posted content. Drive-by posts from accounts where there is obviously no intention of engaging in the following discussion may be removed.
- No Link Aggregations: If there's an article within an aggregation of links/stories or a newsletter, link to the actual story or article.
- Use Correct Flairs: [Flairs](https://www.reddit.com/r/opensource/comments/xrw5s9/new_postflairs/) should reflect the nature of the post. `Promotional` is when you are sharing a project, yours or otherwise. `Alternatives` is when you are soliciting for suggestions of OSS that fulfills a need. `Discussion` is for asking general questions when `Promotional` or `Alternatives` does not apply. `Community` is for something that will or has happened when `Promotional` does not apply.
Works well
- Sharing your own open source project with the Promotional flair, and making sure the repo has a LICENSE file with an OSI listed license
- Asking the community for open source alternatives to fill a specific need, using the Alternatives flair
- Starting a Discussion post about a real open source topic, like release practices or community management
- Sharing a relevant article with a title that matches the article's own title, then adding your opinion as a comment
- Announcing a community event or milestone with the Community flair, when it is not promotional
Avoid
- Dropping a repo link with no license file, since “Be On-Topic” requires an OSI listed open source license
- Posting AI-generated content, which the “Memes & Low-Effort Posts” rule calls ban worthy
- Using a clickbait title on a shared article instead of the article’s own title, which breaks “No Sensationalized Titles”
- Making your first ever post here a link to your product, which looks like the drive-by behavior “No Drive-By Posting / Karma Farming” targets
- Picking the wrong flair or leaving it off, which the “Use Correct Flairs” rule expects you to get right
- Posting memes or shitposts, which belong elsewhere per “Memes & Low-Effort Posts”
What r/opensource Is For
This community is for everything open source, and the description points to the standard open source definition, so posts need a direct connection to open source projects and the open source community. The people here discuss and share news about open source projects, ask for open source alternatives to fill a need, and talk about things happening in that world. Founders who build open source projects fit right in when they share their work honestly. Marketers who want to drop links with no connection to open source do not fit here at all.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
Three rules decide most outcomes here. “No Spam or Excessive Self-Promotion” allows some promotion but follows Reddit's self promotion guidance, so keep promotional posts a small share of your activity. “Be On-Topic” requires posts to be directly relevant to open source, and any code or repository you link must have a LICENSE file using an OSI listed open source license. “Use Correct Flairs” requires every post to carry the right flair, and promotional sharing gets the Promotional flair. “No Drive-By Posting / Karma Farming” matters too, because accounts that post and never engage in the discussion can have posts removed. “No Sensationalized Titles” applies if you share an article, keep your title close to the article's own title.
What To Post
The strongest shape here is a genuine open source project with a real LICENSE file using an OSI listed license, posted with the Promotional flair. If your product is closed source, think hard before posting, because any repository you link must carry that license. Good alternatives are a Discussion post asking a real question about open source, or sharing a relevant article with its original title and your opinion in the comments. Engage in the replies after you post, because drive-by behavior gets posts removed.
What To Avoid
Disrespect gets you in trouble under “Be Respectful”. Spam and heavy self promotion break “No Spam or Excessive Self-Promotion”. Memes, shitposting, and anything AI-generated are out under “Memes & Low-Effort Posts”, and that rule says AI-generated content is ban worthy. Off-topic posts and repos without an OSI listed license violate “Be On-Topic”. Sensationalized titles break “No Sensationalized Titles”. Drive-by posting and karma farming violate “No Drive-By Posting / Karma Farming”. Linking an aggregation instead of the actual article breaks “No Link Aggregations”. Wrong or missing flairs violate “Use Correct Flairs”.
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Common questions about r/opensource
Can I link my closed source repo?
No. Any repository you link must have a LICENSE file with an OSI listed open source license.
Can I post AI-written content?
No. The “Memes & Low-Effort Posts” rule treats all AI-generated content as low-effort and ban worthy.
Can I share an article about my industry?
Yes, if the content is directly relevant to open source. Use the Discussion or Promotional flair depending on the purpose.
What flair should I use?
It must use one of the four flairs. Promotional for sharing a project, Alternatives for asking for OSS suggestions, Discussion for general questions, and Community for events.
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