Should You Open Source Your Startup?

Whether you should open source your company or not.
/ benawadmerch
github.com/benawad/dogehouse
#benawad #opensource ​
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Follow me online: voidpet.com/benawad
#benawad

[@a_maxed_out_handle_of_30_chars]

a 30 min call with ben, I don't know who is going to be more awkward

[@wils-caru]

This sounds like an oportunity: A startup to fix/help open source management.

[@xervoo6419]

You should open source it

[@wils-caru]

@@xervoo6419 I agree, the best people to solve open source problems are those who have experience with open source.

[@mith6849]

Open source the open source with open source

[@cubeofcheese5574]

@@xervoo6419 eating your own dogfood

[@eezyville1704]

That sounds like an Xzibit meme. "Yo dawg I heard you like open source. So we open sourced our business so you can open source your business."

[@xervoo6419]

"They have seasonal depression, and the season they're depressed in is year-round." Love it.

[@TheDanaYiShow]

"season depression where the season is year-round" I appreciate your humor

[@DennisIvy]

Great points

[@crazycat2969]

Hey Dennis

[@DennisIvy]

@@crazycat2969 Yo

[@blazi_0]

Maboy is here !!

[@DennisIvy]

​@@alantheknight6073 Really appreciate that :)

[@NateROCKS112]

5:45 this is called "Linus's law," and was coined by Eric S. Raymond. It's largely false for large codebases. However, free software still gives more of a toolkit for finding bugs than otherwise.

[@nadir2k]

1:42 this was my PR lol. Ben taught me a LOT

[@lord_kh4n]

lmao

[@emil62627]

This dogehouse thing sure sounds promising! Someone should build a startup around that...

[@Evoleo]

They should also totally make a devlog series on a KZbin channel and then ragequit after a couple months

[@Gers217]

Just make sure you don't forget the devlog[4], otherwise your startup will blow away

[@jabezborja]

They should call their devlog DogeLog[index]

[@ShivamVerma-io1yn]

They should definitely not abandon it

[@JokerFey]

They should keep updating every big update to let big companies steal it

[@theabbie3249]

Ben lives inside DogeHouse

[@scottrobbins3341]

If you choose to open source your code for a startup, pay close attention to the license you use. If your business model is made off of your hosted version, a different or larger provider can potentially take your business out from under you by offering their own hosted version (ex: AWS offering an Elasticsearch service).

[@overlisted]

i still need my salary for being a top 5 contributor

[@a-yamout948]

ok underlisted

[@ajhalili2006]

We have an problen. Open-source maintainers and contributors are overworked but underpaid.

[@equinox2584]

I am still waiting on my salary for being the 400th top contributor.

[@LanPodder]

@@ajhalili2006 make that "all software devs"

[@SimonAyers]

Reviewing 12 engineers’ code was a full time job for me. I can’t imagine how labour intensive a project with that many contributors must be! 🤯

[@shyriu293]

*Shows screenshot of latest commit with the pipeline failing" Oh you are an absolute legend.

[@patterntrader690]

Damn, I feel like you uploaded this specifically for me. Thanks for the great insights

[@josueteodoro2342]

I would really enjoy listening a podcast of yours

[@nbaua3454]

This is a serious stuff, I guess the open source practice works well once you have some base product ready and say a small team working (only you or may be two people) on it to solidify. That ensures the core work is still at least risk and idea is already good to be shared as minimum viable product. Once you reach there, you can open source it.

[@atanjacket]

I now understand why Linus Torvalds is the way he is!

[@maheshwarimurli]

Ikr

[@delphinelisabeth]

great learning, your next project will be that much better !

[@strategy_gal]

I agree on what you said about keeping your team small. I prefer to do that in my business. Great advice!

[@AdityaTripathi]

7:45 I can vouch for that, he's absolutely correct lol

[@akal1k0]

Very good, thanks Ben!

[@salmanbehen4384]

This guys way of sarcasm is so subtle

[@vladisergeiev7278]

Dude, I've experienced exactly this, except in a paid position as a team lead. You go from writing a lot of code, and loving it, to writing very little code, and mostly planning work for others, and making sure they don't break shit. Management may be a track to more money, but it's disproportionate to the increase in work, and inversely proportional to the fun.

[@justusbuyu9344]

With the way you are holding that mic, I wouldn't be surprised if you just switched to stand-up. Create an entire industry around code stand-up. I'm ready.

[@toddzmijewski6002]

You are either an engineer or a sales person. Project leads and architects are more sales people than engineers when it comes to daily responsibilities. You can have all the engineering experience in the world. Once thrown into lead/architect you will spend more time reviewing issues, translating requirements to technical tasks, having conversations with stakeholders, guiding/teaching others, and responding to daily problems then writing any code. Similar I've held lead, architect positions but had to come to the realization that I hate leadership responsibilities. I like building things. I enjoy being given a problem and delivering quality technical solutions. Ultimately every single person who programs, enters this industry will need to make a choice whether they are a programmer or a sales person and/or manager. The other part of that is the longer you stay part of one company the more naturally you will take on lead responsibilities whether you like it or not.

[@wcandillon]

Ben u ballin 🙌🏻

[@subvind]

6:45 "just to have a hosted version" - yes, well said

[@cajaun]

new ben awad video

[@RaheelJunaid]

I completely agree with what you said about developers being more inclined to use a product if it is open-source. Every time I search for a product on Google, I always type "[product-name] open source" first.

[@TheJobCompany]

Yes. Always. Please do. I won't care about your product if it wasn't released under a gpl or at the *very* least, gpl-compliant. I know that the only thing that matters in business is having me as a customer, so in that regard you *must* stan rms === Edit (jokes aside now, I swear): I mostly agree with what Ben has to say, I don't really like the "Open Source" ideals as much as I support the "Free Software" ones. The thing about security is that yes, when a project starts up, the ones who study the src the most are the people interested in finding exploits and hacking it, however as the userbase grows, so does the amount of security-conscious users. For example, when a backdoor got maliciously committed into php, it got noticed almost immediately. When a pr for audacity was submitted that introduced telemetry, people were quick to see it. When the UMN introduced hypocrite commits into linux, it didn't go without being talked about. Maybe not the best examples, but that's my pov

[@failpark3053]

Love that Adam Ragusea ref

[@cyjan3k823]

I think most of your points are not really about open source project but about project in general When you start something bigger and you need coworkers to help you (if you want to do it well) it is the end of your work with code/CAD etc directly, you have to menage other people work, check Deadline, Find Problems and ways to solve them, assign people to next Tasks etc. Some people probably can do both but in most cases you cant work and menage the same project

[@woosix7735]

It’s more of a question “should you startup your open source”

[@ATIWatchReviews]

great insights

[@Shoan3D]

Hey Ben, great videos as always. How are you managing Web Socket authentication and authorization?

[@AbhinavKulshreshtha]

Just the video I wanted.

[@Waffelo]

Cons for a lot of (big) companies: Can't add spyware, can't do bad stuff with data, people will see addictive algorithms

[@jimhalpert9803]

Touché

[@thenormalunicorn9008]

Yes you can, look at vs code. While the git repo doesn't contain telemetry code, if you just download vs code from ms it includes telemetry tracking.

[@XXMEDXX]

Yessssss Ben!

[@tomtomtomtom691]

I want this guy to succeed and feed Zuck to the lizards.

[@chudchadanstud]

Welcome to having a start-up. Made my own Android app and sold it on the play store. Ended up spending more time doing customer service, management than developing.

[@monkemode8128]

What was your app?

[@chudchadanstud]

@@monkemode8128 It was an icon pack with an inhouse container. Pulled it off the store and I won't mention it here because as you can see this is an alt accounts and I don't want to dox myself as Google requires you to disclose your address.

[@JeloOW]

@@chudchadanstud it really sucks that you need to reveal your address to everyone

[@thevanted99]

Great video as always Ben, thanks for the idea. Maybe even I will open source my project as I am a much better communicator than a coder. What do you guys think about that?

[@doom-and-gloom]

how I almost became a millionaire (as a programmer)

[@lusthateenvy]

(Ex-founder Ex-Angular user)

[@ttextinction7273]

@Nefomemes (as an Ex-Millionaire)

[@juliansoto2651]

How I almost became a programmer (as a millionaire)

[@failist9570]

Plot twist: Zuck forked dogehouse

[@mcdazzzled]

Dude you have some beautiful eyebrows

[@Amike]

I believe your situation was really particular. Most projects won't get nearly as much interaction.

[@someonehere4380]

yea he gets thousands of views on yt and he is alone in the project thats why it was overwhelming

[@iBePancakez]

That background looking nice ben. Doge house paying well huh?

[@AkshatSinghania]

and finally he sold dogehouse elon without telling anyone about it and now he is a trillionare and has a new house congoooo

[@specy_]

For me: Yes but only after some months of release, when the app is known

[@mo938]

hey this is that guy I matched with on Grindr!!!

[@MaximSchoemaker]

Yo, absolutely love your content :3 ✨ good advise, and hella funny. Please do pay your merch artist better than 100$ though. I understand you're thinking of fan submission. But you are gonna make a bunch more money than that. So maybe a small revshare is more appropriate? Anyway, just my 2 cents.

[@JamezMartinez]

Why are you only giving him 2 cents why not more

[@davidnichol4735]

This is hilarious

[@NiMareQ]

7:38 That's true, LOL. Girls do love it 😂

[@yajatvishwakk6744]

The pain in this video

[@rory_christensen]

Great intro 🤣😂

[@aaronhedgesmusic]

You know everyone has to do “mophead” themed merch designs now? Haha

[@SpaceTimeBeing_]

Open source is trustworthy. That is all there is to it.

[@JoshPaulie]

People are easily misled by “Open source clients” and such. A lot of the time, no project is fully open source, making them really not that trustworthy.

[@SpaceTimeBeing_]

@@JoshPaulie That is still comparatively better than a completely closed source software. If there is a choice always prefer something open source over the closed source tech wherever possible, privacy and control is absolutely worth it.

[@BenRangel]

Translations seems like one of the clearly huge benefits to open-source as it's something everyone can do without much codebase know-how. Why not just tag your project with "we only accept translation PR:s"

[@alexsokol1086]

Nice points, BUT I personally use open source projects to show anyone interested the code and add ability to report errors directly via issues.

[@AntiWanted]

Nice

[@philmirez]

I always romanticize the idea of getting an adrenaline rush from seeing the metrics from contributing. But, the idea is fleeting. I think the times that I have contributed have only been for hacktoberfest 😂. And all I got was a sticker pack along with a shirt that I use for working around the house.

[@ZRProductions24]

I haven't got a clue what you're saying but I find it interesting I don't know why

[@not.lumi0]

You should make an open source project that helps manage open source projects

[@nichijoufan]

This man doing google's long term plan

[@pipeliner8969]

yes

[@derekmcdaniel6029]

This is why forks exist. Let people fork your shit, and ignore all pull requests.

[@stumbleguysproboy8471]

Please make road map of everything

[@mydisk2859]

Agreed

[@mattymclaughlin5900]

Big CEO

[@webappio]

Open source maintainers are definitely the unsung heroes of the industry

[@rusprice]

Alternate title: Ben Awad goes on a 8 minute rant about open source

[@programmercouple]

Seasonal Depression 😆 Great points Ben

[@fijau]

Are those neon lights above a bed?

[@elliotfriesen6820]

What programming languages did he use to make that cookbook website?

[@min11benja]

When are you going to start on crypto projects?

[@poller2810]

The problems youre talking about are real. BUT: if id start a really good opensource today. noone would find it, so no problems for the "normal folks"

[@sudonick2161]

Hey Ben, Can you please make a tutorial on how to make a music bot which can be used/integrated on any platform be it Dogehouse, discord or any thing like a personal mobile music player..??

[@BenRangel]

It's surprising devs can't imagine maintaining is a ton of work. These devs probably work with a full time PO or PM that's needed just to manage 5 devs who are totally in sync. So shouldn't be a stretch to imagine that 100 different devs who don't know each other would also need a ton of management.

[@herbertwestiron]

Eh 5:58 might be true for very very small projects with bad code bases but projects that do have momentum usually have more eyes looking for exploits to fix rather than exploiting them. Security through obscurity is shunned equally by every security expert. Improve the code rather than trying to make your code safe by hiding it. That's like saying proprietery encryption algos would be better than open sourced ones. P.S. Open sourcing won't improve security of code automatically but its better than closed source.

[@simonjesusbeliever3467]

yes.

[@edaxucles90]

Which camera do you use?

[@mith6849]

30 minute zoom call?? 😂😂😂😂

[@aviwedontsa2457]

The cost is the least of the problems... It's the time that sucks... Especially the learning curve...

[@SamuelKarani]

Is Ben Awad secretly Glidus?

[@kettenbach]

Manager Ben. Doing adult stuff. 👍

[@BenRangel]

The worst is when you begin the day with an idea of a critical features you need to get done. But you end up discussing a bonus feature that's not even in your backlog instead... because you're nice and someone wants to merge it

[@Aymaan_Mulla_TECH]

hey ben how much did it cost to host doge house??????

[@nulljeroka]

0:37 This is it.

[@CeaserGaming]

i went to the bathroom and this is still playing?

[@devnol]

what if you just start an open source project just for the sake of it being transparent and you just don't accept outside PRs altogether? (But keep issues and feat rq's I guess)

[@s-codes14]

Open source can also be a headache.

[@aviationbutterr]

new room?

[@justinfleagle]

Start a startup that helps startups open-source.

[@kittymedusa3618]

You were going to fail because you choose Elixir over Rust. Rust enforces strong type casting and strict compilers. This would’ve saved you a lot of time.

[@theway1077]

Preach It!

[@xmohd2011]

focus on what you are saying (part of) focus on your background (YES)

[@aj.arunkumar]

Artistically challenged 🤣🤣🤣

[@___chebz___]

Your voice..... God Damn 😩😩😩

[@gofudgeyourselves9024]

ok bro

[@simonedeiana2696]

Open source has nothing to do with putting your stuff on Github. Github is a social media for programming project, and as such it acquires all the social problems of more conventional social media websites. You can “open source” your project just by setting up a website and offering a download for your source code. You can even avoid doing that and just give the source code to anyone that requests it via email. Conflating OS and FOSS with a social media paradigm is just plain short sighted

[@nobytes2]

ex-dogehouse ceo

[@RameshKumar-mv3jd]

I hate it when I'm wearing my green, rose-tinted goggles.

[@toddzmijewski6002]

Nothing prevents a company from sharing source code on github but maintaining the project internally.