How to start an open source project

Note: While my experiences are based on a code-project, I believe that this knowledge could easily be adapted to a non-technical project.

So you've considered taking your project open source. But you haven't done it yet. Why?
- You don't know how
- You just need to refactor your code again
- You don't know what license to pick

I'll guide you through the process based on the mistakes that I've made since 2004 when I took my little homegrown Web CMS - Umbraco - open source. Today it's the most popular Web Application on the Microsoft stack, among the ten most downloaded MS based open source projects and my startup (yes, I'm making a living from OSS).

I had no idea why (it just felt right), I didn't know anything about licenses (in fact I had picked three different ones over two years before I got some help) and I kept postponing releasing the code because I knew I could do better.

And all of this doesn't matter a thing. So in the spirit of Action learn how to go open and why it might change your life - by talking about how to:
- Getting the message out - spreading the word using the web
- Giving up ego and building a core team of people
- Lead a project by encouraging enthusiasm and ditch pedants