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> or even start a business Only if you’re not in the SaaS space. If you are, then open-sourcing your tech is a risky strategy because then if you have any succ

> or even start a business Only if you’re not in the SaaS space. If you are, then open-sourcing your tech is a risky strategy because then if you have any success, you start to compete with bigger players who take what you’ve invested & then it’s a game of $ which is harder to compete with.

j33zusjuice 3y ago
It can still be open source. The AGPL was designed for protections in that scenario. Unless you’re suggesting the AGPL is insufficient. There’s another one that’s really similar, too.
- vlovich123 3y ago
  I don’t know many software developers that are OK using AGPL software. The license will infect all products that someone may try to go build even if it doesn’t compete.
- SpicyLemonZest 3y ago
  MongoDB and Elastic famously didn't find it to be sufficient, swapping to a new and non-OSI-approved license to protect against big cloud providers offering managed versions of their software.
toast0 3y ago
When has open sourcing your business's core software not been a risky strategy? If you are a software as a product company and you open source your software, someone else may put it into a box and sell it beside you. If you are a software as a business process company and you open source your software, some else may build into their business and compete against you in whatever your marketable output is. If you are a software as a service company, and you open source your software, someone may build a service that is remarkably similar to yours. Open source is great for things your company depends on --- maybe you get community improvements, and you can build and change it how you like; but if the core of your business is open source, that's a choice that makes it very easy for competition to form. OTOH, if you want to build something that other companies depend on, and there's open source alternatives, it's going to be hard going; I wouldn't use a closed source web server or database server or search engine, given there are good open source options; although maybe if those options don't work out, I'd consider a closed source vendor.

j33zusjuice 3y ago

It can still be open source. The AGPL was designed for protections in that scenario. Unless you’re suggesting the AGPL is insufficient. There’s another one that’s really similar, too.

vlovich123 3y ago
I don’t know many software developers that are OK using AGPL software. The license will infect all products that someone may try to go build even if it doesn’t compete.
SpicyLemonZest 3y ago
MongoDB and Elastic famously didn't find it to be sufficient, swapping to a new and non-OSI-approved license to protect against big cloud providers offering managed versions of their software.

toast0 3y ago

When has open sourcing your business's core software not been a risky strategy? If you are a software as a product company and you open source your software, someone else may put it into a box and sell it beside you. If you are a software as a business process company and you open source your software, some else may build into their business and compete against you in whatever your marketable output is. If you are a software as a service company, and you open source your software, someone may build a service that is remarkably similar to yours. Open source is great for things your company depends on --- maybe you get community improvements, and you can build and change it how you like; but if the core of your business is open source, that's a choice that makes it very easy for competition to form. OTOH, if you want to build something that other companies depend on, and there's open source alternatives, it's going to be hard going; I wouldn't use a closed source web server or database server or search engine, given there are good open source options; although maybe if those options don't work out, I'd consider a closed source vendor.