[Owncloud] OwnCloud Android App Open Source or Not?

Fri Aug 30 18:19:25 UTC 2013

@Tom: great points! Maybe we should write those points somewhere more
explicitly, like on the Google play store page?

Alessandro

On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 11:57 AM, Derek Broes <derek at broes.net> wrote:
> Is it not permissible to compile your own app with your own contributions
> and sell yourself? If you add some great features to the app and maybe
> change the UI a bit you can sell a different version of the app yourself as
> long as you make your improvement and code availble to the community for
> free.  This is beauty of open source.  I have my own app that has features I
> built but they are features specific to ne and my company so I dobt sell
> them but, I could sell ny app too. Diversity and choice is terrific.  We
> need more than one app anyway.  Build away and I will be first in line to
> buy the app.
>
> On Aug 30, 2013 8:12 AM, "Randolph Carter" <RandolphCarter at fantasymail.de>
> wrote:
>>
>> Exactly the point which I wanted to raise as well. In my opinion, in
>> such a case as the owncloud app it needs to be clear where the money
>> goes exactly. Because why should someone work on something where
>> *somebody else* earns money for it?
>>
>> It's not the contributing itself which is in question here; nor the fact
>> that there's no money for it - I think we all know that the real benefit
>> and reward of working on Open Source software lie somewhere else than in
>> money. However, if contributing means helping someone else to earn
>> money, without getting any oneself, that has the potential to squash any
>> motivation for contributing for free.
>>
>> I don't argue that open source software cannot also be sold. I just want
>> to make the point that in the best interest of keeping everybody
>> interested in contributing, transparency of any such money flows is
>> crucial!
>>
>> Randolph
>>
>> On 2013-08-30 15:06, Alessandro Cosentino wrote:
>> > Sorry to butt in on this conversation, but I believe the main point,
>> > on which Kelvin was confused when he asked those questions on IRC, was
>> > not addressed in this thread yet.
>> > Let me play his advocate here. We encouraged him to not fork the
>> > project and to rather work along the owncloud community to the
>> > existing app.
>> > And yes, almost all of us agree that "Selling free software" is the
>> > right thing to do.
>> > But his point (at least on IRC) was: if I help with coding, will I get
>> > a percentage of the money that users pay for the app?
>> > If not, who gets the money?
>> > On IRC we weren't able to address these questions.
>> >
>> > Alessandro
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 3:09 AM, Jan-Christoph Borchardt
>> > <hey at jancborchardt.net> wrote:
>> >> In addition to what Frank said, you might find this article on
>> >> »Selling Free Software« interesting:
>> >> https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html
>> >>
>> >> »Many people believe that the spirit of the GNU Project is that you
>> >> should not charge money for distributing copies of software, or that
>> >> you should charge as little as possible — just enough to cover the
>> >> cost. This is a misunderstanding.
>> >> Actually, we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge
>> >> as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to you, please
>> >> read on.«
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> It’s similar if you look at some of the other apps interacting with
>> >> ownCloud, notably the mobile apps for the News reader.
>> >> There’s the Android app by David:
>> >>
>> >> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.luhmer.owncloudnewsreader
>> >> And the iOS app by Peter:
>> >> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iocnews/id683859706
>> >> I think it’s great that they develop both open source, and charge for
>> >> them too. And it’s worth it because the apps are really good!
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> So please be welcome and contribute: http://github.com/owncloud/android
>> >> :)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 12:45 AM, Frank Karlitschek
>> >> <frank at owncloud.org> wrote:
>> >>> Hi Kelvin,
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On 29.08.2013, at 21:36, Kelvin Hammond <hammond.kelvin at gmail.com>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> I'm wanting to add CalDav and CardDav support to the android owncloud
>> >>>> app and maybe some other features should I have the time to do so.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> The problem I'm running into now is that the app is for sale on the
>> >>>> android market instead of free even though its open source.
>> >>>
>> >>> This is not an contradiction. The app is open source but also cost
>> >>> $0.99 in the store.
>> >>> The money is used to pay for some of the development that goes into
>> >>> the app. If you don't want to spend one dollar than you can grab the source
>> >>> code from github, compile it yourself and put it on you device. But I think
>> >>> it's friendly to support the development with $0.99
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>> I've paid for the app on the market already only to find that it
>> >>>> doesn't support contacts or calendar sync which is what I bought it for.
>> >>>
>> >>> Sorry for that. I think it was in the app description that it support
>> >>> access to files but no contacts/calendar syncing yet.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>> I'd have no problem doing it for free if the app was free but seeing
>> >>>> as how the app isn't free who does the money go to?
>> >>>
>> >>> The money goes to the developers who write this open source app.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>> If I add these features am I allowed to fork the owncloud app and put
>> >>>> it on sale on the android market?
>> >>>
>> >>> You are allowed to do that. It is is open source so you can fork it if
>> >>> you want. But I would recommend to not do that but to contribute to the
>> >>> existing app. The ownCloud community is friendly and open for new
>> >>> contributors, ideas and code. So I would recommend to look at the code on
>> >>> github and submit your extension and pull request. It's better to work
>> >>> together instead of duplicate work.
>> >>>
>> >>> Thanks a lot and let me know if you have any questions.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> Cheers
>> >>> Frank
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> --
>> >>>> Thank you,
>> >>>> Kelvin Hammond
>> >>>> _______________________________________________
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