[cosmicgadget]

> Is any site with a login "not the open web"?

This one. The open web is freely accessible to anyone on the internet.

> So if I'm hosting on my own metal, paid for by paying subscribers, then I'm not Open Web?

Yes. It's not necessarily bad, it's just not open.

[bruce511]

Thanks for the feedback. So hosting on say Wix is still Open Web?

I suppose, is the converse free? Is a site that allows access without a login Open Web? Like say YouTube?

[cosmicgadget]

I know indie web camp has a thing against hosting services and probably the small web people would also say blogspot and wordpress and wix are too corpo.

So imho drawing the distinction at not requiring payment/login works as an open web definition. And if self-hosting is a requirement for some people, there are other terms to use.

Youtube, Substack, Medium and the like are open-ish. They're far more of a heavyweight platform than a web host or publishing tool. They could become walled with the flip of a switch. And they can be ad-walled which is testing the limits of openness.

[JKCalhoun]

If I go to Wix, Substack, Medium and I'm tracked with cookies, sent analytics to Google, a popup begging to allow notifications, a subscription—not "open".