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Ask HN: Creating a Hosted Version of an MIT Licensed, Open Source App?
3 points by aantix on Nov 22, 2018 | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments
I've found an open source app on Github that solves a specific development problem that I had really, really well. It's MIT licensed.

The author has been working on it for over a year and a half.

I would like to start a business with it, creating a hosted version of it.

I did reach out to the author and told him my plans. He told me that he would be bummed if I beat him to the punch and creating the service. But I haven't seen him do anything with it that would show progress on a commercial version. I don't know him at all and would not want to partner with him.

Should I feel bad about taking an MIT licensed app that I didn't develop and creating a commercial service from the work of someone else?



No, you should feel smart. This is what the free in free software is all about. Making it work for others and hosting it is your work. Go commercialize it and make your money!


And maybe you will give him the incentive he needs to go create his own competing service, and then both of you will be better off than you were.




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