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Ask YC: open source your code
6 points by lhorn on Nov 12, 2008 | hide | past | favorite | 10 comments
It's not a secret that most if not all YC-funded startups are built on top of mountains of free code written by someone else. Nobody here pays for XML parsing libraries or POP3 implementations. But I am yet to see the code produced by YC-funded companies themselves.

Scribd, I want to use iPaper on my own site without using your servers. I think it will be beneficial to my customers. Since you took millions of free code for parsing all these pre-existing document formats, don't you think you owe to the community and should release your convert-to-flash code as well?

I know that GPL only covers the case of "distributing" software and running it on your own servers releases you from an obligation to give something back in return.

But does it really justify your behavior of being a parasite?




See below a list of OSS from YC companies.

This is clearly not the only way of giving back to the community. What about all the contributions they make to the projects they use. I believe scribd has stretched rails to limits beyond any other site and has made contributions from it. Adam from heroku just discussed a patch he submitted to rails too. The list goes on, I'm sure.

Also, you sound like you have used iPaper, a free service provided by Scribd. Perhaps you should consider an amicable request for an open version of iPaper (since that is obviously why you made this post) rather than calling YC companies parasites. On a related note, I would be interested to hear what parts of your company's product you have opened.

I'll build a list:

http://blog.reddit.com/2008/06/reddit-goes-open-source.html

http://portal.insoshi.com/

http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html

http://www.webmin.com/index8.html

http://opensource.heroku.com/

http://trac.youos.com/

http://www.getdropbox.com/install?os=linux

http://www.xobni.com/about/opensource

http://appjet.com/app/150996096/source


On a related note, I would be interested to hear what parts of your company's product you have opened.

Funny you asked. I happened to work for a startup that got acquired by a big&evil corporation that specifically prohibited our engineers not only from opening our code, but even from contributing to existing OSS projects, which, partially sparkled my original post.

BTW, there is only one item on your list that qualifies as a valid answer to my question (for obvious reasons) and that is webmin.com, which is by far my favorite YC startup.


Look again. I kept adding.


http://cappuccino.org


Ok fine. :-)


Credit to jwilliams for starting the list.


(On open/free source licenses.) I came full circle back to GPL. If you see the glass half-full, the latest AGPL is a great option for a web startup to distribute their code. It would address the question from investors or plain MBA-style CEOs "How would you prevent a competitor from taking this code and making a better service on it?" while at the same time giving grounds for a community of competitors to factor their development costs. (Including debugging as development.)

I couldn't think of a scenario where somebody can argue they want to take an open/free source project, modifying it, and give a service online without redistributing the code. Well, unless if that person is an [insert your favourite derisive descriptor for anti-social people.]


>Since you took millions of free code for parsing all these pre-existing document formats, don't you think you owe to the community and should release your convert-to-flash code as well?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't iPaper descended from Macromedia's Flashpaper? If so, they might not have the rights to open-source it even if they wanted to.


But I am yet to see the code produced by YC-funded companies themselves.

You haven't looked very hard then.


Nobody here pays for XML parsing libraries...

No, but some of us write our own. :-)




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