
Ask HN: Should I open-source my code? - endriju
I have developed this service in my free time: www.exmerg.com
I was hoping for it to become a product with a functioning business model, but i was struggling to come up with one.<p>Right now i am about to quit freelancing and accept a job at global corporation.<p>Would there be anyone interested in the code if I open-sourced it? 
(It&#x27;s Java and Javascript, plus ExtJS framework).
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codezero
Whether anyone wants/is interested in the code, open sourcing it is
effectively the modern bullet point on your resume. Open source, it, write
some good documentation and let it run wild if it's desired, but if it's not,
it will still look good as a personal and technical achievement.

Good luck at globocorp! :)

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b0ti
If you open source it, pick a license that's more restrictive (e.g. AGPL).
This leaves a chance for you to get lucky and sell it to a company who wants
it to use it as closed source so that you can buy a few beers. Otherwise they
will just take it and use it without a single thank you. Probably I'll get
downvoted for this but IMO releasing work under the BSD, Apache or a copyleft
license that you created on your free time is like playing charity for large
corporations.

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MeVfm
> releasing work under the BSD, Apache or a copyleft license that you created
> on your free time is like playing charity for large corporations.

I agree with you, but "copyleft" is the concept that keeps software from
becoming proprietary. Apache-style licenses are permissive, GPL-style licenses
are copyleft.

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jacquesm
I don't understand the 'I was hoping for it to become a product with a
functioning business model, but i was struggling to come up with one.'

On the site it says:

> there is no fee and it’s completely free.

So why not change that? Set up a 3 tier 'buy' page and charge $0.15 per merge
if you buy 10 merges, $0.12 if you buy 50 and $0.10 if you buy a 100 pack.

That way you can figure out if people are actually willing to pay for this
service.

Open sourcing it is great but that still requires someone to run it.

Just try making it a paid service first, if that does not work you can always
re-consider and make it open source after all.

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jmathai
Assuming there wasn't significant interest as a free service then charging for
it won't solve the current problems.

I think a better alternative to open sourcing it would be to try and sell it
for a couple thousand dollars. Take that money and make a weekend trip
somewhere.

Open sourcing it won't get much more mileage than being able to point future
employers to the project as a reference for your work. But that's a strategy
with little risk and effort that maybe better than nothing.

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endriju
Thanks everyone for the valuable feedback, i appreciate it! The option that i
am most likely to go with is to open source and document the interesting parts
of the code (parsing sheets, merging data) and keep the site as an example use
case for the OS projects.

~~~
codezero
Awesome. I look forward to your Show HN post.

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wilsonfiifi
Managing an open source project involves a bit of work and time on your behalf
especially if you want to build a following. You have to keep everything up to
date: documentation, wiki, code, issues etc… And if you want contributors then
you have to make sure your code is understandable and properly organised. (and
I should be following my own advice!)

Once you put your code out there you must also be ready for criticism: some
good and some awful. But from my experience it's the best thing you can do as
a developer because it will definitely help you grow and force you to code
better (hopefully).

I think I was very lucky because when I posted my first open source project on
HN
([https://github.com/johnwilson/bytengine](https://github.com/johnwilson/bytengine))
it was a positive experience and when you get that kind of feedback you really
don't want to "let the community down" by slacking on your commits and other
project upkeep duties (which I have).

So I think you basically have to ask yourself if you just want a public code
archive that you can point people to once in a while and say hey I did that or
if you want to build a community around your project and turn it into
something great!

Best of luck and thanks for posting this, it has given me a little kick in the
butt!

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valarauca1
There's really no reason to not open source it. Unless you just want to burn
your code and your work. Throw it on github, and maybe somebody will find a
use for it.

I'd say I'd like to play around with it. But merging data files doesn't work
over a web interface :\ since then I'd need to upload like 4 GB lol.

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buckbova
If there's a piece of this that you think'd be especially useful, like the
merging of data, then it'd be nice to pull that out and open source just this
piece.

But if you don't have the time or want to expend the effort, I agree with what
some others have posted here. Open source it with some decent documentation
and screenshots. It could serve you well down the road.

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pnathan
Interesting service. Spreadsheet merging isn't the easiest thing ever. :-)

I am a firm proponent of libre software and encourage you to open source it
under a strong copyleft license. If it is really useful, it will be picked up
someday and looked at. If not useful, then it's not a great loss to you.

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programminggeek
There is certainly value in open sourcing a project, just for the attention it
can get you. I don't know if it's going to change much for what you are doing,
but you never know.

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anonymous_
I'm receiving code 503 at [http://app.exmerg.com/](http://app.exmerg.com/)

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anonymous_
Fixed now. Thanks

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anonymous_
I tried to create a simple chart: * clicked "add column chart" * dragged
"sector" column to x-axis * dragged "price" column to y-axis

Values in the chart don't seem right, see "Health Care" for example. If i
click "disable paging" all other sections show with empty y-values.

Is it possible to include charts in exported xls?

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endriju
That's currently not possible, but you can save the chart as png (click
Preview, then right click and Save Image As..)

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wehadfun
If you can't make money on it then open source it if you have time

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angersock
Easiest way to find out is to open-source it.

