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Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

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Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#11

Post by throwawayffffas »

amadeoeoeo wrote: post #7
throwawayffffas wrote: post #2

Open source but make it clear that the project will not receive any updates. If any of your clients want to pick it up they will be able to fork it. > Legal complications If your code was written by you and you are not infringing on any patents and you don't have any client data in your repos, you should be fine I guess, but I am not a lawyer. Just make it MIT and open it to the public. Make sure there are no keys or…

Thanks for the advice. One fear I have is about security. Is the code is exposed, it will be way easier to exploit potential security flaws... I will not be able to just do nothing if this is the case .. Ill end up wanting it.

> It will be way easier to exploit potential security flaws.

It will be also easier for other people to find them and report or fix them.

In general it's a bad plan to rely on code secrecy for security. It's security through obscurity which never works out. All the cryptography schemes and algorithms are public. Most of the public internet runs on open source code. Transparency is a strength, not a weakness.

Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#13

Post by toast0 »

> However, I can also foresee a lot of technical and legal complications, not to mention potential maintenance burdens.

Shouldn't have a maintenance burden. That burden will be extinguished with the corporation.

If I were you, I'd put it on github with a corporate account, leave a readme that it's abandoned and then mark the repo read-only.

Let (interested) customers know and encourage them to fork it. Disable issues and pull requests before you publish.

Alternatively, put a source dump on your website, and let people know they can put it on Github, but you're not doing it. If nobody republishes it before the corporate site goes down, it is what it is.

Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#14

Post by brudgers »

toast0 wrote: post #13

> However, I can also foresee a lot of technical and legal complications, not to mention potential maintenance burdens. Shouldn't have a maintenance burden. That burden will be extinguished with the corporation. If I were you, I'd put it on github with a corporate account, leave a readme that it's abandoned and then mark the repo read-only. Let (interested) customers know and encourage them to fork it. Disable issues…

What you say makes sense if there actually is a corporate shield.

Because “startup” is often used in a weak sense only to mean “new business,” there may not be corporate protections for the beneficial owners of this startup.

If it is a Silicon Valley style startup, then the founders probably ought to talk to their investors because that relationship matters and the investors probably know something about open sourcing code bases from shut downs.

Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#16

Post by brudgers »

[random advice from the internet]

If you really want to put an open source project out in the world the right way, taking what you learned and building an appropriate code base might be a better route.

And if you don’t really want to put an open source project out in the world, that’s okay.

Your customers had an interest in paying you enough to stay in business. They did not pay enough (and maybe because you did not charge enough).

And to me, it seems like you are probably ready to move on and now is probably a good time for moving on. Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#17

Post by [deleted] »

amadeoeoeo wrote: post #7
throwawayffffas wrote: post #2

Open source but make it clear that the project will not receive any updates. If any of your clients want to pick it up they will be able to fork it. > Legal complications If your code was written by you and you are not infringing on any patents and you don't have any client data in your repos, you should be fine I guess, but I am not a lawyer. Just make it MIT and open it to the public. Make sure there are no keys or…

Thanks for the advice. One fear I have is about security. Is the code is exposed, it will be way easier to exploit potential security flaws... I will not be able to just do nothing if this is the case .. Ill end up wanting it.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#19

Post by msgodel »

amadeoeoeo wrote: post #18
msgodel wrote: post #15

See if you can put it under the [a]GPL and create a consulting niche around it.

That is interesting. May I ask what do you mean by "if you can"? Thx

If you have the rights/if your customers will tolerate it.

EDIT: to clarify as I realize that was pretty vague.

1) Depending on how you use your dependencies you may have a licensing conflict that makes the GPL incompatible.

2) I think your shareholders/VCs/whoever holds the equity (or if you're bankrupt the senior bondholders) probably own the copyright for the code so you would need their permission.

Re: Ask HN: Startup shutting down, should we open source?

#20

Post by amadeoeoeo »

brudgers wrote: post #16

[random advice from the internet] If you really want to put an open source project out in the world the right way, taking what you learned and building an appropriate code base might be a better route. And if you don’t really want to put an open source project out in the world, that’s okay. Your customers had an interest in paying you enough to stay in business. They did not pay enough (and maybe because you did not…

What does "appropriate code base mean"? If I did it, then I would of course cleanse a bit here and there, make the corpse prettier as somebody wrote in another comment. More thant that, however, is an amount of work which is just not viable. Thanks!
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