4 ms·

The license isn't relevant. It's not really "an open source app", it's just an app that happens to be open source. Put it this way: if, say, Godot became the #1

The license isn't relevant. It's not really "an open source app", it's just an app that happens to be open source. Put it this way: if, say, Godot became the #1 most popular game engine, that would be something for the open source community at large to celebrate. With Bluesky, we have absolutely nothing to celebrate. If anything, this is terrible news; instead of Twitter losing users to a genuinely open platform, they're just going to yet another VC-funded functionally proprietary service.

consumer451 2y ago
My point here is not to get all into the fedi/bsky/twitter/threads drama. I am not even talking about social media of any kind. My question is simple and has an objective yes/no answer. Prior to this, has any open source app [0] ever been the #1 app in the US App Store "Top Free Apps" category? [0] For the sake of this post, let's pretend that an open source app is one where the code is freely available, forkable, and under MIT license.
kevincox 2y ago
I think its absolutely good for open source. At the very least it is something that future people can point to and show that an open source app doesn't block success. Sure, it would be better if it was an open source app for an open source protocol, but it is still something.
- consumer451 2y ago
  I believe even the protocol is fully open source. https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto
- whyrusleeping 2y ago
  It is indeed an open source app for an open source protocol.
haileyok 2y ago
The Bluesky app and the protocol it is built on are open source, MIT licensed. The app is built using React/React Native as well as a variety of other open source tools. We maintain multiple React Native libraries as well that are open source. The network is open, and anyone has access to the firehose. Third parties are free to run labelers that integrate with the application as well as build feeds which can be used by yourself or others inside the app. Anyone is free to use the open source SDKs to build their own third-party Bluesky apps or entirely unique applications using atprotocol. To be frank, "it's just an app that happens to be open source" seems to be a pretty bad faith take on what Bluesky is.
- solarkraft 2y ago
  So ... can I run my own infrastructure that’s part of the Bluesky network? What rules does it have to play by? That’s what really matters. The apps being open source is great of course, but the standards for openness are very high for (something aiming to be) internet-level infrastructure. A single company having a lot of control would be a bit of a red flag in this context. The rug pull incentives are huge (that said I am a proponent of commercial interests in open ecosystems, provided they don’t get too much control).
  - chokolad 2y ago
    > So ... can I run my own infrastructure that’s part of the Bluesky network? What rules does it have to play by? That’s what really matters. You can run most of the Bluesky infrastructure and make it part of Bluesky network https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q
  - haileyok 2y ago
    Yes, it is absolutely possible to build on atprotocol and be a part of the network. We have written a good bit about this already here: https://atproto.com/articles/atproto-for-distsys-engineers https://atproto.com/articles/atproto-for-distsys-engineers (in addition to the recently updated documentation in general)
consumer451 2y ago
I disagree with your definition of "open source app," but I do understand the desire to have a non-VC, non-single point of enshitifcation, social network. To quote Bsky dev Paul from 2hrs ago: > Bluesky is building infrastructure you can fully self-host or mirror. Alice did a great job in this blogpost capturing what is doable now, and how to do it. > This network should live long past Bluesky PBC. Let's work together to make this network more resilient! https://bsky.app/profile/pfrazee.com/post/3laujhn5lfs2p https://bsky.app/profile/pfrazee.com/post/3laujhn5lfs2p https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q

consumer451 2y ago

My point here is not to get all into the fedi/bsky/twitter/threads drama. I am not even talking about social media of any kind. My question is simple and has an objective yes/no answer. Prior to this, has any open source app [0] ever been the #1 app in the US App Store "Top Free Apps" category? [0] For the sake of this post, let's pretend that an open source app is one where the code is freely available, forkable, and under MIT license.

kevincox 2y ago

I think its absolutely good for open source. At the very least it is something that future people can point to and show that an open source app doesn't block success. Sure, it would be better if it was an open source app for an open source protocol, but it is still something.

consumer451 2y ago
I believe even the protocol is fully open source. https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto
whyrusleeping 2y ago
It is indeed an open source app for an open source protocol.

haileyok 2y ago

The Bluesky app and the protocol it is built on are open source, MIT licensed. The app is built using React/React Native as well as a variety of other open source tools. We maintain multiple React Native libraries as well that are open source. The network is open, and anyone has access to the firehose. Third parties are free to run labelers that integrate with the application as well as build feeds which can be used by yourself or others inside the app. Anyone is free to use the open source SDKs to build their own third-party Bluesky apps or entirely unique applications using atprotocol. To be frank, "it's just an app that happens to be open source" seems to be a pretty bad faith take on what Bluesky is.

solarkraft 2y ago
So ... can I run my own infrastructure that’s part of the Bluesky network? What rules does it have to play by? That’s what really matters. The apps being open source is great of course, but the standards for openness are very high for (something aiming to be) internet-level infrastructure. A single company having a lot of control would be a bit of a red flag in this context. The rug pull incentives are huge (that said I am a proponent of commercial interests in open ecosystems, provided they don’t get too much control).
- chokolad 2y ago
  > So ... can I run my own infrastructure that’s part of the Bluesky network? What rules does it have to play by? That’s what really matters. You can run most of the Bluesky infrastructure and make it part of Bluesky network https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q
- haileyok 2y ago
  Yes, it is absolutely possible to build on atprotocol and be a part of the network. We have written a good bit about this already here: https://atproto.com/articles/atproto-for-distsys-engineers https://atproto.com/articles/atproto-for-distsys-engineers (in addition to the recently updated documentation in general)

consumer451 2y ago

I disagree with your definition of "open source app," but I do understand the desire to have a non-VC, non-single point of enshitifcation, social network. To quote Bsky dev Paul from 2hrs ago: > Bluesky is building infrastructure you can fully self-host or mirror. Alice did a great job in this blogpost capturing what is doable now, and how to do it. > This network should live long past Bluesky PBC. Let's work together to make this network more resilient! https://bsky.app/profile/pfrazee.com/post/3laujhn5lfs2p https://bsky.app/profile/pfrazee.com/post/3laujhn5lfs2p https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q