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by rosseitsa 498 days ago
Hey, I downloaded and played around with the app a bit and it feels promising. It looks like obsidian in the sense of aspiring to be an "everything" app.

However, I am much more likely to use and contribute to the ecosystem of an app that is open source, in order to avoid a rug pull (relevant article https://howtomarketagame.com/2021/11/01/dont-build-your-cast...).

I read in the website that it is not open source because it does not need to be, could you elaborate on this?

1 comments

The decision to keep Hollow closed source isn’t about restricting users, it’s about ensuring stability while maximizing customization through plugins and themes. you can extend it freely using the plugin system, much like how browsers allow extensions without requiring users to alter their source code.

I understand concerns about long term sustainability and rug pulls. Unlike subscription based models or cloud locked apps, Hollow is 100% local, and the app remains fully usable regardless of future updates. The goal is to foster a plugin driven ecosystem rather than requiring contributors to maintain the core software.

And Thanks for trying out Hollow, really glad to hear you find it promising.

"The decision to keep Hollow closed source isn’t about restricting users, it’s about ensuring stability while maximizing customization through plugins and themes."

I am not sure if the above is marketing speech but of course you can open source it while not accepting PR that would harm the stability of the app.

Most developers interested in such software would not invest time and effort towards projects that may be abandoned soon, or that may have their future versions require subscriptions.

I am not going to be using Hollow, it is unusable in its current state and I do not see any security in helping the app grow.

That’s fair, I understand that open source is a deciding factor for some people. I also get concerns about sustainability right now, there will be no subscriptions as i said in the site it will be free no matter what, The financial side of the app is purely based on donations, and the focus is on growing an ecosystem of tools that developers can build on freely.

Thanks again for considering it, and for your feedback

Why would I give you my code for free if you're not going to give me your code for free?
> The decision to keep Hollow closed source isn’t about restricting users, it’s about ensuring stability while maximizing customization through plugins and themes. you can extend it freely using the plugin system, much like how browsers allow extensions without requiring users to alter their source code.

This is the worst take about open source software I've seen in a while.

First impressions are everything, and as it stands, I 100% do not trust you as a sole developer. Like seriously, as a dude truing to get adoption of your project, WTF is wrong with you? why are you scared of the boogieman of releasing source code?

do you write code badly and will feel attacked by others reading it?