No one cares about open-source, until
blog.cryptpad.org
blog.cryptpad.org
Users of these projects should expect something like the Skiff sell to happen -- especially if the project is open core or does not use a truly permissive license.
The execution needs to be carefully balanced on all fronts, which many companies don't do correctly giving this business model a bad reputation, but I wouldn't refer to it as "always a marketing tactic", or as something inherently wrong with the open core model.
I'd go as far as to say that open core is possibly the best way to monetize open source projects.
For me, user freedom is guaranteed by free software licenses.
The thing you sell also don't need to be proprietary. I work for an open source company that sells free software [1], support, hosting and consultancy. It specifically rejects doing open core in our business decisions. I'm glad it has worked so far (and has been for 20 years this year).
(coincidentally, CryptPad is one thing the company makes :-))
When the open core model is implemented correctly, the "core" part of the product should be an entirely standalone piece of software, that aims to be best in its class of products. This is already a win for users. The proprietary components around it should be value-added features that are not critical for the core functionality. E.g. optional plugins, enterprise features and services, etc.
When this is done correctly, commercial users effectively subsidize the free software for everyone else. This is a good thing.
Trying to force companies to be fully open source, and shaming them otherwise, hurts the adoption and spread of free software in the long run. Running a successful company is difficult enough, and running a successful company that builds OSS even more so, so companies that do this right deserve to be praised. Those that don't should obviously be shamed, but the fact that some don't doesn't make this business model wrong. They're just shitty companies.
I agree. Read my other comments. My company achieves this without open core.
When you believe that free software is the right thing to do, it's only logical to think that commercial users should also be able to enjoy the freedoms of free software.
Free software or not, companies will pay for enterprise features if done right.
Open core is better than nothing but it incentivizes putting interesting / killer features outside the core. And you live from selling proprietary software, that sends a mixed message. "We believe in open source, but [you can't live from it|we don't believe you need your freedoms]"
When you are able to sell free software, any feature you provide is open source, you can sleep on both your ears and the message is strong: "we believe in free software and we respect your rights. We live from it and if you do business with you, that's what you get". There's no tension between the open core and the outside. Other people can contribute to your paid part too and that's amazing (yes, we have this).
Open core is not the only / best way to implement commercial features.
Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure
https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/learning/research-report...
With venture backed startups, the goal is to sell the company either to a large incumbent or to the public stock market. An IPO is a de-facto sale to large pension funds like Vanguard and Blackrock. Ultimately, their long term goal is going to be maximizing shareholder value not some kind of open source idealism.
In fact, open source often stands in the way of profit so market processes will encourage companies owned by the stock market to go with closed source whenever possible. The most reliable way to keep software open source in the long term is to license it under AGPL or GPL and accept contributions from as many contributors as possible under as many different copyrights as possible. Permissive licenses like MIT and BSD allow companies to use open source for proprietary software without sharing their changes. Even GPL licenses, if the copyrights are all assigned to a single entity, permit that entity to re-license it as proprietary. The more copyright holders, the harder it is to get the necessary permissions or replacement code to re-license.
The analog for that in software is open source. The public doesn't need to care. If it's open, anyone can go fix it when the developer stops. Those people aren't average consumers, they're the 3rd party car mechanics.
As an example, I recently bought some smart light bulbs. They were "Matter compatible" so I thought they'd just work. Turns out, AFAICT, the manufacture ships them in a barely working state, this is so they can force you to download their app, register, and then they'll update something in the bulb that makes it work at full brightness.
I daresay that's the norm. People don't care that they would theoretically have to take their phone to the apple store because they don't have to.
A car however does need servicing and generally fixing -- you can get a puncture 5 miles after leaving the lot if nothing else, so people are more aware.
That’s not open-source, it’s open core. Calling it open-source is a straight-up lie. True open-source is useful even if a company gets acquired or changes their business model, because 1) the old version stays open-source so you never lose access, and 2) it can be forked and remain updated to compete with the now-proprietary version. Like when Terraform got forked into OpenTofu.
1) should be enough on its own to make nobody care if the company changes the license, but we live in a world where people expect all types of software to have continuous improvements. Still, 2) means there’s a group can ensure the open fork has everything the closed original does, by putting in as much effort as the company. In practice the forks often fall behind and sometimes they die, but it’s for the same reason the companies move away from open-source: it’s harder to make progress without funding, and it’s harder to get funding with open-source.
EDIT: I also get that the term “open-source” is diluted. But my understanding is that it means all of the source (i.e. code) is open (i.e. public). Otherwise, why even call it open-source in the first place? Non-code data like assets, training data, and keys can be private (provided the key isn’t encrypting any code), which lets people sell open-source products; a server can use a key to ensure that clients purchased the product (and a checksum to establish that the client’s source hasn’t been modified), but the server’s code should be open-source (so people can run modified versions locally but must buy the official game to play on the official servers).
I suppose there’s some loophole a group can use to create something under this definition of “open-source” and revoke access to prior versions later (at a minimum they can exclude you from the official servers). But at least I don’t know any occurrence of this ever happening, and it’s certainly a lot harder and less likely than revoking access to “open core” (which is just, not publicizing the majority of your code, so that even calling it “open” is debatable).
(Also technically no CC licence is an open source licence, since they don't require works to release the source code, because they aren't intended for source code)
I think you're confusing open source with copyleft; ex. BSD style licenses are open source while still allowing proprietary derivatives.
The MIT and BSD licenses also do not necessarily require the release of source code. It is just that if you license code under those terms and pass it to someone else, then they receive the rights to do a lot of things with the code, including releasing it. I don't think that is much different with the CC licenses (the non-commercial variant is definitely not open source though).
It would be rather pointless, other than giving people the right to binary patch and redistribute the file. I'm mostly just splitting hairs because seeing CC licenses used for code annoys me.
The same applies to MIT and BSD licenses. That was my point.
> It would be rather pointless
Agreed, but nothing in the license text prohibits it in any way. Even if it did, as the sole author of some code you are not bound by whatever license you pick, even if it was a copyleft license that would require other people to share their modifications.
I'd argue its not even open core. Normally open core means a useful product that you can run/host end to end in an open manner, but where some features (normally enterprise features) are closed-source.
Not being able to run the back end at all?! I don't even know what I'd call that...
It does have a place. For example, a password manager browser extension should be open source regardless if the server/platform is. It's nice to be able to audit something that is running on every website you ever visit.
I'd call it proprietary software.
These days, closed source is also closed formats. And with cloudshit tie-ins, sometimes even means you never even see your data. It's just <hands waving> in the cloud.
For example, the sooner you migrated from Eagle after the Autodesk acquisition to KiCAD, the better. Sure, KiCAD was less polished, but your data and way you work was completely open. If you stayed with Eagle, well, you bent over and took it.
In 2023, Autodesk announced that they will no longer sell nor support EAGLE after 7 June 2026.
"In spring 1991 the dongle protection scheme of EAGLE 2.0 had been cracked causing a decline of 30% in sales, while sales for a reduced demo version with a printed manual saw a significant increase.[4] As a consequence in 1992 CadSoft sent thousands of floppy disks containing a new demo of EAGLE 2.6 to potential users, in particular those who had ordered the former demo but had not subsequently bought the full product.[4] The new demo, however, also contained spy code scanning the user's hard disk for illegal copies of EAGLE.[4] If the program found traces of such, it would show a message indicating that the user was entitled to order a free printed manual using the displayed special order code, which, however, was actually a number encoding the evidence found on the user's machine.[4] Users sending in the filled out form would receive a reply from CadSoft's attorneys.[4][33] The act of spying, however, was illegal as well by German law.[4][33]"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAGLE_(program)#Controversie...
In general there should be a broad movement that operates on several fronts that sends the message that you can buy the employees, you can buy the code, but you can’t buy the customers, at least not yet.
I wouldn't say it's quite there yet, my mom probably should wait a little to try it out, but if you're a bit geeky and looking for open source, live multiplayer spreadsheets or documents to use with other tech-savvy people, this would be the first thing to check out. With Nextcloud or LibreOffice cloud or whatnot, the server can always access your things. That's almost always fine, but if this exists, why not the privacy by default? I love the idea
Curious about what features you feel non-technical users might be missing. I've been most successful getting casual, non-technical users to adopt Cryptpad.
It's the power users that use add-ons or need more than what WordPad might offer that begin to grumble in my experience.
To be noted CryptPad comes with its own fork of OnlyOffice, a complete Office suite. Maybe not as complete as MS Office or LibreOffice though. It's not only simple pads (anymore?).
We did use it for keeping organisational notes, but finding out how to use the sharing folders system took a little trial and error
It's this sort of thing that I want to set the expectations for when sharing it with others. When people go in with a mindset of it being a cool thing with rough edges, and it turns out not to be so rough, that's only more reason to be impressed and stick around. If you go there expecting a fully-fledged Google Docs clone, I think that'll be disappointing and give a feeling of "it's nearly good enough" (and then they leave and forget about it)
Anyway that's my expectation on expectations, I'm happy to hear it's currently already in a state so good that you've converted non-techies :D
This is the same thread we see with iot. It's either a system in your power, that you can work with, or it's a huge risk.
Example article: Home Assistant: Three years later 273 points, 3 days ago, 190 comments. https://eamonnsullivan.co.uk/posts-output/home-automation-th...
The tune is even CC licensed!
Though this prompts us to wonder why GNU Social took off (modestly) but Diaspora didn't.