I want to start some projects but i am stuck in thinking.. should i develop my project as open-source or closed-source? And why?
Can somebody help me with some thoughts?
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Top comments (13)
Unless you see your project becoming the next big encryption algorithm, open source will benefit your project even if you add paid services.
You get fresh ideas, different points of view on topics and a wider range of knowledge.
I know of many medium to big companies that started out open source and just kept small parts (like payment stuff) as closed source plugins.
Great!
I tend to develop my project as Opensource but to want to know more how to make money and benefit all contributors as a community of developers not just develop it in a free time. Any suggestions or other ideas?
I like the idea.
Rewarding contributors can be a good thing but I imagine that this is hard to accomplish so everyone gets something they can use.
For example giving out digital ocean credits must not be of use to everyone.
Building a company around it and hiring developers would be one way which assumes you make profit of the software / service.
I have no other clue on how to reward contributors properly at the moment sorry :(
It's Ok. Thanks for you time and thoughts :)
I really don't think an encryption algorithm is a good example of something to keep closed source as it should be subjected to serious scrutiny.
That said, I generally agree, but it probably depends on the intended audience. Building something for devs? OSS. Otherwise go proprietary. Nobody who isn't a dev has bonafide reasons to want your source code.
There are reasons to go OSS even for projects not aimed at devs, but I don't think they work well with your monetization plans.
Great point! thanks for sharing your thoughts <3
Well it depends
If you want to earn something from it or not .
If not go definitely for OpenSource 🤩.
Is there a way to earn and develop it as an opensource at the same time?
You can always ask people to support you through any monetary services like Patreon etc...
Also you can add some paid services in your project which may require users to pay some amount monthly/yearly etc.
Great ideas! thanks for your answers.
Just to add an example, Wallabag is a open-source self hosted solution but you can pay to have an account hosted by the developper (wallabag.it). This is a very conveniant solution for people who don't want to create/manage a server. For this product, online paid version is the same as free self-hosted.
Thanks for this example