Ask HN: Is open sourcing my side project a good way to get traction?

So I've been building something and thinking that open sourcing it might be a good way to get more traction. I've followed the progress of Ghost and Wordpress and they both are doing well. There are also a few other tools that I use which have become open sourced recently.

Personally, I'm more inclined to be interested in an open source project than a closed sourced one, even if I pay for it to be hosted elsewhere.

I'm curious if anyone here has had experiences with this. Has anyone noticed if open sourcing projects helped gain traction?