Open Source does not win by being cheaper • Hacker News Board

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#281

Post by nerdyadventurer » Sat, Sep 30, 2023, 8:21 AM UTC

imiric wrote: post #150

msy wrote: post #5

The problem with this business model is it creates a tension between the OSS version and the paid versions - you want the OSS version to be good, but not such a good solution that nobody feels the need to pay for your SaaS/consulting/etc. That tension seems to inevitably lead to obvious features missing or functionality/knowledge that's needed to operate at any scale coistered away as closed source so the sponsoring…

> That tension seems to inevitably lead to obvious features missing or functionality/knowledge that's needed to operate at any scale coistered away as closed source so the sponsoring entity can make some money. This is not inevitable at all. You're right that there's a tension there, but there are companies that manage to do this right, and please both OSS and commercial users. The fact many companies don't is not an…

> but there are companies that manage to do this right, and please both OSS and commercial users.

Can you please elaborate, how companies doing right, do things?

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#282

Post by neop1x » Sat, Sep 30, 2023, 9:28 AM UTC

maggoty wrote: post #84

VLC trumps any sort of paid video player software, including the one provided by Microsoft. Been using it for years at work and its been flawless. In that scenario, it wins!

And ffmpeg too. It is also used by commercial video editing tools, thunbnail generation, etc. Not many people use proprietary encoder software. And HW encoders in cpu/gpu are often awful (generating big files for good-enough quality).

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#283

Post by volkandkaya » Sat, Sep 30, 2023, 2:57 PM UTC

ilikerashers wrote: post #232

Posthog isn't truly open source as the author claims. It's "too complex" to run natively and is only recommended for "hobby" projects. They basically say, yeah our source code is there but if you want to run it yourself, forget about it. I was thinking of some clients I have that would benefit from this in their secure environments but was quickly chastened by their docs. Fair enough, they have to make money but seem…

They just kept adding features to the point where it became impossible to run on a "simple" stack.

Is there any open source alternative that focuses just on product analytics?

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#284

Post by XCSme » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 12:32 PM UTC

volkandkaya wrote: post #283

ilikerashers wrote: post #232

Posthog isn't truly open source as the author claims. It's "too complex" to run natively and is only recommended for "hobby" projects. They basically say, yeah our source code is there but if you want to run it yourself, forget about it. I was thinking of some clients I have that would benefit from this in their secure environments but was quickly chastened by their docs. Fair enough, they have to make money but seem…

They just kept adding features to the point where it became impossible to run on a "simple" stack. Is there any open source alternative that focuses just on product analytics?

Not open-source, but self-hosted, check out UXWizz[0], I try as much as possible to keep the features count to a minimum and work just on improving them instead of adding new ones.

[0]: https://www.uxwizz.com/

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#285

Post by XCSme » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 12:35 PM UTC

ilikerashers wrote: post #232

Posthog isn't truly open source as the author claims. It's "too complex" to run natively and is only recommended for "hobby" projects. They basically say, yeah our source code is there but if you want to run it yourself, forget about it. I was thinking of some clients I have that would benefit from this in their secure environments but was quickly chastened by their docs. Fair enough, they have to make money but seem…

I keep saying this: open-source projects that promote self-hosting BUT earn their money by having their users NOT self-host their product (i.e. cloud offering), always end up crippling the open-source version or making it as hard to install as possible, especially if the product is built by a large corporation or VC-funded that requires constant growth.

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#286

Post by jrochkind1 » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 10:00 PM UTC

jeremyjh wrote: post #209

jrochkind1 wrote: post #207

> Granted, MongoDB eventually switched to a special SSPL license to add specific restrictions on Cloud Providers from distributing a service without contributing to the project, which isn’t OSI approved, but is open-source practically As an open source consumer (as well as author, but not as a business), I consider it "practically" a part of open source that I can choose to run open source software on any vendor or p…

> I can choose to run open source software on any vendor or platform I want, not just ones who have a licensing deal with the software authors. This is a very practical matter. The MongoDB license prevents cloud providers from reselling a Mongo IAAS. It does not restrict you from hosting your own database on any infrastructure you want (cloud or otherwise). Is there a license that does prevent you installing on speci…

I would like to pay someone I choose to install and manage it for me too, of course.

Re: Open Source does not win by being cheaper

#287

Post by reverius42 » Fri, Oct 06, 2023, 8:36 AM UTC

bandrami wrote: post #128

reverius42 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is that the stated mission is window dressing on top of the underlying truth. Following POSIWID, all for profit enterprises have making money as their core mission.

Except that doesn't really work, because plenty of businesses start in low-margin industries, but if profit is actually the first motivation then every business would be a hedge fund. Ray Kroc wanted to get rich making burgers , not just get rich.

Making burgers is the activity; getting rich is still the first motivation. Besides, I'm not sure Ray Kroc is the best example, and I doubt he personally made a lot of burgers; he bought the national franchise rights to the McDonald's restaurant chain after it was well established, and set about getting rich by making a more efficient burger-restaurant process.