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No code == no sale. I don't like the eventual promise of opensourceness. Just make it FOSS out the gate.

by 5ilv3r 10y ago

cptskippy 10y ago
Well the trouble with open-sourcing incomplete or very immature solutions out of the gate is that they'll get forked because people will see a need to fix what they see as fundamental flaws with an as yet unvetted or incomplete design. You'll also have people implement in production solutions based on the half-baked designs that may not be forward compatible with the ultimate 1.0 release. In either scenario you've fractured your community and diluted your effort. By announcing a solution before it's released you can attract the attention of SMEs who might evaluate the solution and provide valuable insights and offer you the opportunity to resolve concerns before users start adopting your solution.
- 5ilv3r 10y ago
  That's more of an open source problem than a free software problem. I recognize the concern as valid in business, but ideally it would not be relevant.
  - cptskippy 10y ago
    I'm not sure I understand how that distinction changes anything. You outright dismissed the project and any of it's potential merits on the grounds that it only promised to be FOSS eventually instead of initially. Ideals are great to have but you can't dismiss something of merit simply because it's less than ideal. Ideally all medicine would be free and open source but the fact that they're not doesn't mean we should be turning our backs on them.
BinaryIdiot 10y ago
Considering it's not being sold this very second I'm not sure what your point is. The vast majority of open source products start out as closed sourced prototypes / research projects. Sure look at any negatives that the product may have and complain but complaining about a prototype not yet available that promises to be open source but hasn't opened sourced before being available just seems so crass and ultimately unhelpful in any respect.

No code == no sale. I don't like the eventual promise of opensourceness. Just make it FOSS out the gate.

by 5ilv3r 10y ago

No code == no sale. I don't like the eventual promise of opensourceness. Just make it FOSS out the gate.

Well the trouble with open-sourcing incomplete or very immature solutions out of the gate is that they'll get forked because people will see a need to fix what they see as fundamental flaws with an as yet unvetted or incomplete design. You'll also have people implement in production solutions based on the half-baked designs that may not be forward compatible with the ultimate 1.0 release. In either scenario you've fractured your community and diluted your effort. By announcing a solution before it's released you can attract the attention of SMEs who might evaluate the solution and provide valuable insights and offer you the opportunity to resolve concerns before users start adopting your solution.

5ilv3r 10y ago
That's more of an open source problem than a free software problem. I recognize the concern as valid in business, but ideally it would not be relevant.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  I'm not sure I understand how that distinction changes anything. You outright dismissed the project and any of it's potential merits on the grounds that it only promised to be FOSS eventually instead of initially. Ideals are great to have but you can't dismiss something of merit simply because it's less than ideal. Ideally all medicine would be free and open source but the fact that they're not doesn't mean we should be turning our backs on them.

BinaryIdiot 10y ago

Considering it's not being sold this very second I'm not sure what your point is. The vast majority of open source products start out as closed sourced prototypes / research projects. Sure look at any negatives that the product may have and complain but complaining about a prototype not yet available that promises to be open source but hasn't opened sourced before being available just seems so crass and ultimately unhelpful in any respect.