It's nice to know when you're building something on top of other tech that if you need to, you can dig in to the code and fix issues. If the company folds, and you rely on their tech, you can continue to maintain it. If you want to look at their code to see how something works, you can do that. If you want to hire somebody to do a security audit on it, you can do that. If you're picking software to build with, having the source code be open or available is a positive.
And there's no downside to companies doing this. I see this happening frequently: people getting upset at companies that do some kind of sort-of-open-source/source-available thing, because they think the company is just out to get their free labor. If you don't want to give them free labor, then don't.
And besides, they are using AGPL! OSI-approved! What more can you ask for? That the company either dissolve completely, so that their software may become a garden on their grave, tended to by a community of free engineers, or else must remain cloistered and strictly closed? You don't need to celebrate it, but I just don't see the point in pooh-poohing this.
It's nice to know when you're building something on top of other tech that if you need to, you can dig in to the code and fix issues. If the company folds, and you rely on their tech, you can continue to maintain it. If you want to look at their code to see how something works, you can do that. If you want to hire somebody to do a security audit on it, you can do that. If you're picking software to build with, having the source code be open or available is a positive.
And there's no downside to companies doing this. I see this happening frequently: people getting upset at companies that do some kind of sort-of-open-source/source-available thing, because they think the company is just out to get their free labor. If you don't want to give them free labor, then don't.
And besides, they are using AGPL! OSI-approved! What more can you ask for? That the company either dissolve completely, so that their software may become a garden on their grave, tended to by a community of free engineers, or else must remain cloistered and strictly closed? You don't need to celebrate it, but I just don't see the point in pooh-poohing this.