They're in a very different space than FSF/OpenBSD and competing directly with well funded companies like Facebook, Google, Telegram, etc.
Brian Acton, Whatsapp founder, probably understands this better than anyone.
Brian Acton, Whatsapp founder, probably understands this better than anyone.
As opposed to competing with well funded companies like Sun, IBM, SGI, and Microsoft?
Sometimes producing a better, more open product is more important than funding numbers.
They're a messaging app.
Basic communication is not that complicated, it does not take that much effort.
Whole operating systems are not less complicated than exchanging messages because of differences in competition.
If Google started selling sandwiches, Subway wouldn't start requiring 30 people to make your lunch.
(although when I used to eat at Subway a lot as a kid, somehow the Subway in one town always seemed tastier than the location in a nearby town... hmmmmm)
Also, depending on when you were a kid, you may have had one restaurant that still cut the bread using the wedge technique.
- Provide excellent clients.
- Promise to take payments and not mine data or show ads.
- Use few but smart employees.
- Profit.
Telegram managed to get this right too, and I'm disappointed with both of them for now, Whatsapp for selling out and Telegram for starting yet another crypto currency.
Both managed thanks to people going around selling it.
At the point were I
- either need more than mail envelope security (protection against causual snooping by local mail delivery)
- or were Signal or Matrix becomes equally usable as Telegram
I'll be happy to move, as will many others I think.
Provide a better messaging systems - and this time show me up front how you won't get away legally with selling out for > 10 Billion USD - tell me about it and watch me sell it. PS: protip: do charge reasonable payments like Whatsapp did! Or sell API access or something that makes you aligned with the users instead of investors.
It's $16,000,000,000 hard (Whatsapp acquisition price).