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Is it incredibly popular because it is uniquely useful or primarily because it was open source under the MIT license? To put it differently, would people have
by TAForObvReasons 9y ago
Is it incredibly popular because it is uniquely useful or primarily because it was open source under the MIT license? To put it differently, would people have started using it if you started with a closed source solution, or would someone else have emerged with a better open source alternative?
- mholt 9y agoI'd like to think it's both. The license definitely helped drive up adoption very quickly, but it still does some things that no other library does. Still, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before <insert any proprietary software here> has an open-source alternative. (Not that that's bad or a defeat -- the proprietary stuff can still be successful -- but it is a reality.)
- developer2 9y agoIt's perhaps unfortunate, but such a library does indeed become very popular for the very reason that it is open source and free. I haven't used this, but if I ever needed in-browser CSV parsing, I'd use it. Were it not free, I'd find an alternative or roll my own library with the bare minimum functionality needed for my project. Paying for anything related to CSV just doesn't "compute", for lack of a better phrasing. This applies to things like date pickers and html5 charts as well. While these could be separated into a separate category based on the fact that their markets are oversaturated, the result is the same: why pay when there are perfectly usable options that are free, or can be done in-house on the cheap if necessary?
- chii 9y ago> Paying for anything related to CSV just doesn't "compute" That's just such irrational thinking (which is all too common unfortunately). If it saves you any time, even after paying, then it makes sense to pay!