
Ask HN: Paid app but also want to open source? - Liuser
I&#x27;ve just written my first small paid application and would also like to release the source code publicly on github as a few people have expressed interest.<p>There&#x27;s some pros and cons I can see with it:<p>Cons:<p>- Potential revenue loss, people wont pay if they can get it for free.<p>Pros:<p>- Giving back to community.<p>- Potential free advertising when technical users use the free code and non-technical users catch wind and pay for not having to be bothered with code.<p>Anyone do both and can share experiences?
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TurboHaskal
I would keep the code proprietary and donate 20% of the application's revenue
to the open source projects that made it possible. As soon as profit stops,
open source it.

You'll be "giving back" way more this way.

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jrpt
Is it business software or consumer software?

Check out [https://supportedsource.org/](https://supportedsource.org/)

You can have your code public on GitHub, while still releasing it under a paid
license.

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Liuser
Thanks for the info -- it's consumer software.

