
Ask HN: What product/service do you want to stay independent? - spdustin
First off, to avoid semantic distinctions that would detract from the possible answers, I&#x27;ve tried to word this question to allow for a lot of subjectivity. I hope this &quot;pseudo-coded&quot; question works out. Without further ado:<p>Inspired by this comment [0], I&#x27;m interested in your answers to this question: Is there an [independently|privately] owned [product|service|app] that you [use|depend on|really love], and would [prefer|desire|demand] stay [independent|private]?<p>And the extra credit follow up: Is there some corporation you <i>would</i> trust to take it over? What&#x27;s your &quot;Plan B&quot; if it gets snapped up?<p>[0]: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=12206192
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niftich
I will answer in a similarly meta way.

If I really like a product, I want it to stay independent, or rather, I want
it to stay available so I can keep using it, until a superior alternative
emerges that piques my interest. While this does not necessarily preclude the
product being acquired, in recent times most product teams have been acqui-
hired by larger companies and used as a piece of their respective business
strategies.

Those strategies don't always align with mine, as a user of the product.
Often, the product is discontinued; sometimes it's turned into a piece of a
larger SaaS offering of the parent; sometimes it's released as open source but
effectively abandoned. Occasionally, the product improves in an objective way
under the new parent. Therefore any potential acquisition is a risk until
proven otherwise.

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spdustin
Linked version:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12206192](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12206192)

