>SaaS turns your startup into a unicorn and yourself into a rich person. Or at least that's what you are hoping/aiming for. A library is not going to make you a billionaire.
The article's author seems to be making an indirect reference to Moxie Marlinspike (Signal) "ecosystem is moving" essay[0].
If so, Moxie Marlinspike's method for becoming a billionaire by creating non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and providing Signal's source code is a very strange way to cash out of a unicorn.
And btw... even though users/developers have the Signal source[1] which enables them to create an alternate chat universe that's not dependent on Signal's official service/servers, that isn't good enough. They still want to federate[2] with Moxie's servers. This aspect isn't addressed by op's (catern) article.
In other words, having a library (or even the full client+server source code) doesn't really solve the users end needs. It turns out that many place more importance on the service than the library.
EDIT to reply: The first IKEA business in 1943 was for-profit. The non-profit foundation (Stichting Ingka Foundation) was formed later in 1982 so the owner could take advantage of tax efficiencies. I don't see how IKEA's opposite timeline has any relevance to Marlin's playbook to become a billionaire. Is there a real case study of a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity tricking everyone into a bait & switch and minting a new billionaire?
> If so, Moxie Marlinspike's method for becoming a billionaire by creating non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and providing Signal's source code is a very strange way to cash out of a unicorn.
On the contrary:
Step 1: The service is already centralized
Step 2: Make the central service closed source: happening now.
Step 3: A no profit can be turned for-profit or used together with a for-profit (e.g. IKEA)
Signal can become a perfect example of bait-and-switch market capture.
The article's author seems to be making an indirect reference to Moxie Marlinspike (Signal) "ecosystem is moving" essay[0].
If so, Moxie Marlinspike's method for becoming a billionaire by creating non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and providing Signal's source code is a very strange way to cash out of a unicorn.
And btw... even though users/developers have the Signal source[1] which enables them to create an alternate chat universe that's not dependent on Signal's official service/servers, that isn't good enough. They still want to federate[2] with Moxie's servers. This aspect isn't addressed by op's (catern) article.
In other words, having a library (or even the full client+server source code) doesn't really solve the users end needs. It turns out that many place more importance on the service than the library.
[0] https://signal.org/blog/the-ecosystem-is-moving/
[1] https://github.com/signalapp
[2] https://github.com/LibreSignal/LibreSignal/issues/37#issueco...
[3] my comments about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20232499
EDIT to reply: The first IKEA business in 1943 was for-profit. The non-profit foundation (Stichting Ingka Foundation) was formed later in 1982 so the owner could take advantage of tax efficiencies. I don't see how IKEA's opposite timeline has any relevance to Marlin's playbook to become a billionaire. Is there a real case study of a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity tricking everyone into a bait & switch and minting a new billionaire?