4 ms·

I think a good rule of thumb would be: If it's at the core of your business, default is not to open-source. If it's tangential to your business, default is to

I think a good rule of thumb would be: If it's at the core of your business, default is not to open-source. If it's tangential to your business, default is to open-source. For example, while doing my first big web project, I'm making a pretty good (I think) web framework. I'm thinking of open-sourcing part of it at some point. But the specific project I'm working on, that will be completely closed-source.

bootload 19y ago
"... If it's at the core of your business, default is not to open-source. If it's tangential to your business, default is to open-source. ..." I would have thought it's the other way around. Lots of code is just that, code. It doesn't make money by itself. You could try to sell it as is. But I'm not sure if you could make a living off it. On the other hand if you give it away [0] and let users own it something interesting happens. Firstly most users have trouble using it. Some others want additions but don't have the skill to do it. Or simply no time. Then there are others who rely on this software 24/7 but realise that division of labour means it's cheaper to get someone else to run and maintain the software. The software I'm thinking about in particular is WordPress.[1] The software is free to use but most will probably pay a small fee to have their blogs hosted with domain names and other extras. The company automattic hacks on WordPress and various other projects building a business around the software they gave away for free. [2] So how did WordPress start? How could it afford to give away it's business core at that time? Users flocked to WordPress after deserting Movable Type looking for fairer alternative. [3] The groundswell of users gave WordPress the opportunity to create a business. I don't think the software is the core business. Converting ideas into software is the core business. Giving away the "object code" of their ideas, allowed automattic to grow. [4] [0] What license can make a lot of difference. I've heard of a lot of developers releasing software only to be screwed over by companies not abiding by rules of the license. I'm thinking about busybox - http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-utA38iMHlYJ:perens.com/Articles/StandTogether.html+gpl+software+abuse+by+companies http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-utA38iMHlYJ:perens.com... - http://gpl-violations.org/faq/violation-faq.html http://gpl-violations.org/faq/violation-faq.html [1] http://wordpress.com/about/ http://wordpress.com/about/ [2] http://automattic.com/about/ http://automattic.com/about/ [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordpress#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordpress#History

bootload 19y ago

"... If it's at the core of your business, default is not to open-source. If it's tangential to your business, default is to open-source. ..." I would have thought it's the other way around. Lots of code is just that, code. It doesn't make money by itself. You could try to sell it as is. But I'm not sure if you could make a living off it. On the other hand if you give it away [0] and let users own it something interesting happens. Firstly most users have trouble using it. Some others want additions but don't have the skill to do it. Or simply no time. Then there are others who rely on this software 24/7 but realise that division of labour means it's cheaper to get someone else to run and maintain the software. The software I'm thinking about in particular is WordPress.[1] The software is free to use but most will probably pay a small fee to have their blogs hosted with domain names and other extras. The company automattic hacks on WordPress and various other projects building a business around the software they gave away for free. [2] So how did WordPress start? How could it afford to give away it's business core at that time? Users flocked to WordPress after deserting Movable Type looking for fairer alternative. [3] The groundswell of users gave WordPress the opportunity to create a business. I don't think the software is the core business. Converting ideas into software is the core business. Giving away the "object code" of their ideas, allowed automattic to grow. [4] [0] What license can make a lot of difference. I've heard of a lot of developers releasing software only to be screwed over by companies not abiding by rules of the license. I'm thinking about busybox - http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-utA38iMHlYJ:perens.com/Articles/StandTogether.html+gpl+software+abuse+by+companies http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-utA38iMHlYJ:perens.com... - http://gpl-violations.org/faq/violation-faq.html http://gpl-violations.org/faq/violation-faq.html [1] http://wordpress.com/about/ http://wordpress.com/about/ [2] http://automattic.com/about/ http://automattic.com/about/ [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordpress#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordpress#History