4 ms·

What does open source mean when you have to use a hosted solution and "premium" names cost 29 usd / month.

by arkitaip 4y ago

rekttrader 4y ago
They have a GitHub and you can self deploy it on your own domain... use their infra, pay their fees.
Semaphor 4y ago
I wanted to have a look, but the site lags horribly on my phone, so I'm not thinking the rest of the code is better.
- dotancohen 4y ago
  I noticed this too. The site lags on my Samsung Note 10 using Firefox.
- rad_gruchalski 4y ago
  Maybe you need a new phone. It works fine on my 5 year old iphone.
- Karstographer 4y ago
  I see sluggish website performance on Firefox for Android. Chrome performance seems fine on a Note 9.
EligibleDecoy 4y ago
Self-hosted here: https://developer.cal.com/self-hosting/installation https://developer.cal.com/self-hosting/installation
- candiddevmike 4y ago
  > Clone the repo into a public GitHub repository (to comply with AGPLv3. To clone in a private repository, acquire a commercial license) The AGPL won't save you from folks modifying/reselling your software. And if someone was non compliant, are you going to pay the lawyer fees to prove it? I wish companies would stop using "open source" as a growth strategy.
  - gen220 4y ago
    I think this is more a situation of a small group of individuals looking to fund their development of FOSS scheduling software by offering a hosted solution, rather than a company using open source to grow faster. AFAICT, their goal isn't to monopolize a hosting solution for their software, just to provide a path of minimal resistance to normal people using their software, and fund their lives along the way. https://cal.com/about https://cal.com/about lays it out. Looks like they're a team of 15ish people who raised a Series A, but it seems they've gone about it in a pretty thoughtful way (15 years of runway, atm)
    - candiddevmike 4y ago
      They're venture backed, it's a growth hack: https://cal.com/about https://cal.com/about Expect the usual tension of open core shenanigans to eventually play out.
      - gen220 4y ago
        I mean, when we read that page, it doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth -- saying this as somebody who's generally very skeptical of VC-backed FOSS. It seems like the founders have their heads and their hearts in the right place, to the extent that calling it a growth hack feels wrong to me, personally. But yeah, in the long term I agree with you, it'll probably fall apart in the way you expect within 10 years. It's hard to outlast the financial interest of investors, even if they're you're friends.
      - moneywoes 4y ago
        Yep, note how the title is "Open Source" not Open Core. They know what they're doing
    - singron 4y ago
      This is pretty cool. They are outside of the US, but even if they paid typically higher US salaries, they would still have many years of runway. It looks like there might be some funny business with MAU and Total Customers. MAU is only 3,500, but they somehow have 50k Total Customers? And they have a free tier? If only 7% of your paying customers use your product, they aren't going to renew. I expect that this doesn't include churn or is actually some kind of cumulative integral counting customer months or something.
detaro 4y ago
You don't have to use a hosted solution.

What does open source mean when you have to use a hosted solution and "premium" names cost 29 usd / month.

rekttrader 4y ago

They have a GitHub and you can self deploy it on your own domain... use their infra, pay their fees.

Semaphor 4y ago

I wanted to have a look, but the site lags horribly on my phone, so I'm not thinking the rest of the code is better.

dotancohen 4y ago
I noticed this too. The site lags on my Samsung Note 10 using Firefox.
rad_gruchalski 4y ago
Maybe you need a new phone. It works fine on my 5 year old iphone.
Karstographer 4y ago
I see sluggish website performance on Firefox for Android. Chrome performance seems fine on a Note 9.

EligibleDecoy 4y ago

Self-hosted here: https://developer.cal.com/self-hosting/installation https://developer.cal.com/self-hosting/installation

candiddevmike 4y ago
> Clone the repo into a public GitHub repository (to comply with AGPLv3. To clone in a private repository, acquire a commercial license) The AGPL won't save you from folks modifying/reselling your software. And if someone was non compliant, are you going to pay the lawyer fees to prove it? I wish companies would stop using "open source" as a growth strategy.
- gen220 4y ago
  I think this is more a situation of a small group of individuals looking to fund their development of FOSS scheduling software by offering a hosted solution, rather than a company using open source to grow faster. AFAICT, their goal isn't to monopolize a hosting solution for their software, just to provide a path of minimal resistance to normal people using their software, and fund their lives along the way. https://cal.com/about https://cal.com/about lays it out. Looks like they're a team of 15ish people who raised a Series A, but it seems they've gone about it in a pretty thoughtful way (15 years of runway, atm)
  - candiddevmike 4y ago
    They're venture backed, it's a growth hack: https://cal.com/about https://cal.com/about Expect the usual tension of open core shenanigans to eventually play out.
    - gen220 4y ago
      I mean, when we read that page, it doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth -- saying this as somebody who's generally very skeptical of VC-backed FOSS. It seems like the founders have their heads and their hearts in the right place, to the extent that calling it a growth hack feels wrong to me, personally. But yeah, in the long term I agree with you, it'll probably fall apart in the way you expect within 10 years. It's hard to outlast the financial interest of investors, even if they're you're friends.
    - moneywoes 4y ago
      Yep, note how the title is "Open Source" not Open Core. They know what they're doing
  - singron 4y ago
    This is pretty cool. They are outside of the US, but even if they paid typically higher US salaries, they would still have many years of runway. It looks like there might be some funny business with MAU and Total Customers. MAU is only 3,500, but they somehow have 50k Total Customers? And they have a free tier? If only 7% of your paying customers use your product, they aren't going to renew. I expect that this doesn't include churn or is actually some kind of cumulative integral counting customer months or something.

detaro 4y ago

You don't have to use a hosted solution.