Simon Hofmann is the core developer and founder of the open source UI automation/testing tool nut.js.
Recently, he published the article I'm giving up on open source to discuss his views on the sustainability and charging of open source projects.
Simon mentioned in his blog that he has always had a positive attitude towards open source projects, but the final decision to charge is because he invested a lot of time and money in developing new plug-ins and encountered some unpleasant experiences. He believes that the maintainers of open source projects should also receive due rewards, and should not be accused of pursuing money. He also said that he would continue to maintain nut.js, but would delay the release of new functions and updates, and decided to charge for some functions.
The following is the translation of the article.
Why?
Since I started using Linux, the idea of open source has always attracted me. Almost all my own works are open source, and if I find something that can be improved, I am still contributing to the upstream projects I use.
The first time I sponsored an open source project was ten years ago, when I was still in college, because I always believed that if a project was valuable to me, it would be worthy of support. If I don't have time to contribute to it personally, at least I should support those who do it.
Of course, some people have made it clear that they do not want any form of sponsorship, but if they want, I am willing to help. Working on open source projects is still a job. If you do well, you should be rewarded. I have always believed that if you start a project that is valuable to the company, they will support you in return, at least my company will sponsor it every month Verdaccio This is the reason why I support the maintainer of the library I rely on.
Based on the above "naive" belief, I started to develop nut.js under the Apache 2.0 license, Because I think if companies and individuals can freely use my software, they will also be willing to support me in turn 。 Now, before you start judging me for doing this for money only, don't you think it sounds great to work full-time on open source projects and still be able to pay bills?
Did I succeed in the end? No, All I got was complaints. At first, people complained that the image search plug-in was hard embedded in the core of nut.js, and they were forced to use a specific compatible version of node or Electron.
Later, they began to complain that the image search plug-in was incompatible with Apple Silicon. I made it clear that I could not solve this problem without a machine for testing. Therefore, if no one is willing to lend me a machine or sponsor me to buy one myself, this problem will not be solved.
Do you think someone has acted to help? No,
Once I decided to invest on my own and charge for new plug-ins, I suddenly became that greedy bastard - no longer providing everything for free.
The same is true for companies. As long as everything goes well, no one will care about you, but once they encounter problems, guess who will knock on my door?
In the nut.js warehouse Open questions I was publicly accused of being totally untrue and became the last straw.
This has happened several times. Because of what I did with nut.js, I was insulted on Discard and Reddit, and now I'm on GitHub again. But this time, I won't swallow my pride.
In your opinion, open source is great because it can be used for free. The truth is, it's definitely not free. Some people pay a price for this. If they are not users, they are maintainers 。
Everyone's time is valuable, and you may want to use it wisely. If it's happy to spend time on one thing, that's great. But if it becomes a burden, it is no longer interesting.
If you start to be insulted by others because of what you do in your spare time, it's time to stop 。
Open source is great, but it is not sustainable. We have been destroyed by ourselves for many years, and now we have reached a place where it is difficult to turn back. Publishing source code for greater benefit is a noble cause, but frankly, I believe that over the years "Open source" has become an excuse to avoid paying for software 。 In addition, if there is a problem, the maintenance personnel must take the responsibility.
I have been playing "open source" with nut. js for almost six years, but now it is over.
What's next?
All my packages around nut.js will no longer exist publicly on npm. Out of the box packages can only be obtained through the private nut.js package registry, which requires a valid subscription.
The GitHub repository will remain open, so if you want to continue using nut. js locally, you need to handle the work of building, testing, and hosting packages yourself.
If you want to save time and effort, you should get a license today, because the price will rise with the release of additional plug-ins. Existing subscribers will not be affected by this price increase.
Will I completely stop working on nut.js?
Of course not.
I will continue to work on nut.js, but the update of the warehouse will be delayed. New features, patches, bug fixes, and security updates will first be made available to subscribers.
As I said, if you want to continue using nut.js, you must be responsible for building, testing and hosting the software package yourself.
