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Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

codekeeper.co

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Re: Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

#11

Post by ddewit »

jake_morrison wrote: post #8

Too expensive. Make a source code release and encrypt it. Put it somewhere accessible to the customer, e.g. an S3 bucket owned by them. Arrange for the key to be given to the customer under the terms of the escrow agreement, e.g. send a letter to your lawyer with the terms of release and the key. I can see value in having someone handle this for me, with a nice UI. It's fundamentally a clerical job, though, with some…

The ongoing deposits are the main issue which we automate for the client. Imagine doing what you describe for 50 repo's.

That would make you unhappy quickly. Also the lawyer would not do this for free.

I guess it's a matter of finding the right balance between cost and convenience.

Re: Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

#12

Post by ddewit »

heelhook wrote: post #3
ddewit wrote: post #2

We created Codekeeper so you can now easily comply with escrow requirements from your enterprise and government clients, and more importantly, to help you close deals with those clients quicker. Being developers ourselves it’s designed to keep your life easy and works in pair with Github, Bitbucket and the other SCM platforms. We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions to make it fit even better inside your deve…

How are you guys planning on marketing this, if you don’t mind me asking? Are you using smart contracts to power this? Congratulations on shipping this! It looks like a very compelling offering!

Thanks!

Yes smart contracts are on our roadmap.

Marketing wise, we have several distribution channels that help us out at the moment. If you have ideas we'd be happy to hear them.

Re: Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

#14

Post by retSava »

cyberferret wrote: post #5

Source code escrow is a great service, and one that ALL developers who do client contract work should look into. I've been creating bespoke software for business clients for nearly 30 years now as a one man business, and I have a clause in all my development contracts that stipulates should I pass on or my business ceases to exist, that full source code is released to my clients so they can engage another programmer…

That CD is probably unreadable by now, unless you used a disc made specifically for storage and it has been stored in a climate controlled storage space. They lose out quite quickly.

Re: Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

#15

Post by squarefoot »

retSava wrote: post #14
cyberferret wrote: post #5

Source code escrow is a great service, and one that ALL developers who do client contract work should look into. I've been creating bespoke software for business clients for nearly 30 years now as a one man business, and I have a clause in all my development contracts that stipulates should I pass on or my business ceases to exist, that full source code is released to my clients so they can engage another programmer…

That CD is probably unreadable by now, unless you used a disc made specifically for storage and it has been stored in a climate controlled storage space. They lose out quite quickly.

+1. The OP should use a different storage media if the goal is to keep the data available after years. I speak for personal experience having lost dozens of CDs and DVDs, and I mean branded discs properly burned and verified. Burned Optical media becomes unreadable after a few years, sometimes showing first signs of failure afer only 3 years or less. That convinced me years ago to abandon completely their use in favor of hard drives which I swap every N years to keep up with the advancement of interfaces.

Anyway, M-Discs are a recent development in the optical media field promising 1000 years of reliability, but of course nobody will be able to test that claim anytime soon. http://www.mdisc.com/

Re: Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

#16

Post by syllogism »

The killer feature you should add is support for hosting an API, for trial usage. The escrow service would affirm that the trial API endpoint was produced by hosting a container on a given instance size.

The client then knows that the solution works and is runnable. The integration onus is then on the client, because the software has passed inspection before delivery.

Re: Show HN: Codekeeper – Source Code Escrow for Developers

#17

Post by cyberferret »

squarefoot wrote: post #15
retSava wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That CD is probably unreadable by now, unless you used a disc made specifically for storage and it has been stored in a climate controlled storage space. They lose out quite quickly.

+1. The OP should use a different storage media if the goal is to keep the data available after years. I speak for personal experience having lost dozens of CDs and DVDs, and I mean branded discs properly burned and verified. Burned Optical media becomes unreadable after a few years, sometimes showing first signs of failure afer only 3 years or less. That convinced me years ago to abandon completely their use in favo…

I should check it. I haven't spoken to that lawyer in nearly a decade now.

But I guess this is the crux of my issue with a service like Codekeeper. The timelines could be WELL over what we initially estimate.

For the particular programming project I mentioned above, I only expected the code to be in escrow for about 3 to 5 years max. Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisaged my client using my software for 20+ years to drive their business! Had I known that in advance, I would have put in place some other form of long term storage.

As it happens - all that code is now on my BitBucket account as well as other offsite backups, but I am thinking having a unique read key and having that stored with my lawyer may be a better bet. If CodeKeeper was in the $100/year range, then I could conceivably charge my customers a fixed 'holding fee' to store it with them. But the Catch22 is that they probably need more revenue in order to stay in business longer, and I need a business that will stick around for the long term so that I can entrust my code to them. Ironic.

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