[blowski]

I’m fascinated by AirBnB. So much modern tech business orthodoxy is around leveraging your core value proposition and outsourcing everything else. Yet here is AirBnB with their own iOS rendering framework.

Is it part of their core value prop? Or do they ignore the advice? Or is their success causing them to waste cash on boondoggles like this? Or do these boondoggles help them attract engineering talent for less than they’d otherwise need to pay?

[gpeal]

Maintainer of Lottie for Android here. The vast majority of work on Lottie has been a passion project on nights and weekends. This particular contribution is actually the rare exception.

[tgv]

> The vast majority of work on Lottie has been a passion project on nights and weekends.

That's sad. That's really, really sad. I get why you would like to work on such a project, but it's got considerable value for AirBnB. Your work doesn't go to the "community", it goes to a large, unscrupulous, unethical money factory.

[blowski]

1. It’s open sourced, so it goes to both. Either AirBnB sponsor the build and promote it, or the community builds it and AirBnB uses it. I’m not sure why the latter would be better than the former. It’s better for the world than companies keeping all their libraries closed source.

2. AirBnB’s backing probably gives it more reach because it’s more likely to be maintained.

3. It’s up to the OP where they spend their time. I’m guessing they’re compensated in multiple ways for their efforts.

I’m all for calling out negative behaviour by big tech when I see it, but kneejerk “big company bad” type reactions are counter-productive.

[tgv]

1. This is not a common library that fits everywhere. It's pretty specialized. Using its full potential almost requires a commercial environment, because of the design and graphics needed. For everyone else, normal animations are annoying enough.

3. The parent post said: passion project/nights+weekends. That doesn't sound like multiple way compensation.

It's not about negative behavior of big tech, but more of a "grind" mentality gone astray. I can totally understand being (somewhat) proud of a project like this: it looks friggin' good. I also expect a company to grab whatever it can; it's the way of the world, and some companies are quite immoral. But we should not be working on something of considerable value to entities with deep pockets for free, just because it hits those 2010s linked-in bingo words. That's not where your self-worth as engineers should come from.

[blowski]

Oh that’s great to hear. So this is open source where you don’t need to work for the owner to get an MR accepted?

[gpeal]

I used to work for Airbnb. When I left, I lost a few things like admin settings on the repo but they let me maintain it. Not sure what would happen if they didn’t… Nobody there has the time or context to do anything more than a rubber stamp.

[tgv]

The app is their business, erm, core value proposition. They earn their money by claiming to be better at getting a property owner money than anybody else, and getting a tourist a better accommodation. To avoid the latter choosing a hotel (God forbid!), they need all the flashy, infinite-scrolling goodness a native app can offer to get the buyer to stay on their app as long as possible. That app is their life line.