Hacker News Reader

Comment by Asparagirl | Hacker News Reader

Mommy and geek here. I like the site! But is there any chance we can have the data declared open, or made available through GeoJSON or things like that? If we're going to take the time to contribute new data, I'd like to know that it's not just ending up proprietary for your site.

Also, FYI, "nursing spots" may be state-law dependent in the US. In California, for example, every public spot is a nursing spot. :-)

View on HN

I am all about Open here. I like that idea, but I am holding off on being too serious about money-implicating stuff for now. Just want to work on validating the concept: will people actually use the site, am I making any design or technical blunders that are preventing that, etc.

I WANT to go Open, and totally would if groceries were also Free and Open and my landlord decided not to charge me rent. We'll see where it goes and how much money promotions and event postings could bring in.

I am glad you are bringing that up though. I should start thinking about it harder.

Re nursing, it turns out from a survey of prospective users of the site that very few people are interested in looking for 'nursing spots'. I initially added it on the advice of a friend who was a very new, shy breastfeeder. I agree on your politics.

Agree that making the data open is something that it makes sense for savvy users to ask for. Do you think it would make sense from PencilAndPaper's business perspective, though? Regardless of open vs proprietary, there will be some users willing to contribute, so the data can probably be collected either way. If the data is open, there's an opportunity cost of a significant competitive advantage.

>>If the data is open, there's an opportunity cost of a significant competitive advantage

I think I get what you are saying, but if you could elaborate on what you mean by this, it would also be helpful!

Well, as I see it... suppose you can collect the data regardless of whether you consider it open or proprietary. Under the "open" model, you get the advantage of (at least from some perspectives) doing the right thing by the community. The downside for you is that emerging competitors can take your data as a starting point rather than needing to go through the effort of building their own data. If you choose to keep the data proprietary, it could be one of your competitive advantages.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com