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Hey! I totally get where you're coming from. I wrote a post exploring the privacy and security of Chrome extensions: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-

Hey! I totally get where you're coming from. I wrote a post exploring the privacy and security of Chrome extensions: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-Danger-of-Chrome-Extensions-af93b84006ed48c18b807f512b6c0a07 https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-Danger-of-Chrome-... I'd love to open source Intention like I've done with a ton of previous projects (http://github.com/dkthehuman/ http://github.com/dkthehuman/), but since it's a Chrome extension, that'd make it trivial for anyone to copy. Given that I'd like to eventually develop a paid plan and make working on this full-time financially sustainable, I hope you can understand why open sourcing doesn't seem like a viable option. I'm brainstorming ways to make the extension as transparent as possible (e.g. if I ever decide to include analytics, (1) providing an opt-out and (2) a way to view all the information that's transmitted in a human-readable way), but at the heart of it, using Intention will require some trust in my integrity and care as a developer. I'm also hoping that writing about my decision-making process publicly in my journal (https://roadtoramen.com https://roadtoramen.com) will provide transparency and help develop that trust. If you ever see me going astray or not thinking clearly, please keep me accountable! If it helps, here are some of the things I've written about privacy (I think about this quite a bit): - My privacy principles: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-97-Privacy-Principles-5ba3c280848e4697869b2c11d773cc92 https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-97-Privacy-Principles-5... - Privacy gut checks: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-86-Privacy-Gut-Checks-070419ee59ff46f5ac1f464f16cacd16 https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-86-Privacy-Gut-Checks-0... - Exploring whether I should include analytics: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-45-Should-I-include-analytics-13bdda9215284442bd1a0f29b82b57fb https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-45-Should-I-include-ana...

hkdobrev 6y ago
To be truly open in terms of privacy, open-source + auditable open releases is the way to go. I'd recommend a free extension with a paid plan which has additional features. Provide the basics in the free version and the really good stuff in the paid version. If source code is the same and it's just feature flagged based on a ping to a server to validate a license key, then it'd be indeed easy to copy the paid features in another extension. To a large extent you'd be relying on the web store moderation a copy to not be published and to tech-savvy users to not install it locally. However, that approach could ensure a wider reach of users so the share of the paying ones to be big enough in absolute numbers. Marketing the extension to non-developer audience would help reduce the chance of manual installation. The biggest difference would be that the developer audience could contribute to the open-source code and you'd be making money from those contributions. I don't think the income from that alone would be enough to support you in the short-term, but in the long-term with good expansion with other products, that could prove to be a very strong passive income.
nelsonenzo 6y ago
as a chrome extension, your code pretty much already is open sourced. even of obfuscated, that's just a process of replacing named vars. It is fully copy-able, bit for bit. I don't have any fist in the fight on privacy, just thought you should know your code is already out there.

hkdobrev 6y ago

To be truly open in terms of privacy, open-source + auditable open releases is the way to go. I'd recommend a free extension with a paid plan which has additional features. Provide the basics in the free version and the really good stuff in the paid version. If source code is the same and it's just feature flagged based on a ping to a server to validate a license key, then it'd be indeed easy to copy the paid features in another extension. To a large extent you'd be relying on the web store moderation a copy to not be published and to tech-savvy users to not install it locally. However, that approach could ensure a wider reach of users so the share of the paying ones to be big enough in absolute numbers. Marketing the extension to non-developer audience would help reduce the chance of manual installation. The biggest difference would be that the developer audience could contribute to the open-source code and you'd be making money from those contributions. I don't think the income from that alone would be enough to support you in the short-term, but in the long-term with good expansion with other products, that could prove to be a very strong passive income.

nelsonenzo 6y ago

as a chrome extension, your code pretty much already is open sourced. even of obfuscated, that's just a process of replacing named vars. It is fully copy-able, bit for bit. I don't have any fist in the fight on privacy, just thought you should know your code is already out there.