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I feel like the best of both worlds would be to open up the Lemmy interaction code, so it can stay in sync (ha!) with the fast moving development of the fediverse (and maybe allow for community-developed kbin support or whatever else down the line), while keeping the UI and whatnot proprietary (as that’s the real secret sauce of an app like Sync, and I imagine there would be code shared between Sync for Reddit and Sync for Lemmy)
Of course it’s LJ’s decision, but this is just my 2 cents.
Modular. Open the lemmy interaction module as you said, allow people to easily create shims for the likes of kbin or anything similar like that.
Ill support whatever LJ decides to do, he’s proved he’s more than capable with what he produced in sync.
Open source is cool as fuck though
While I am strongly in favor of this, I suspect going fully open source might be ‘too much, too soon’ for ljdawson, as I’m not sure how used they are to open source practices.
As a gentler stepping stone that doesn’t feel like giving all control away, I would suggest sharing the source code under the PolyForm Noncommercial license: https://polyformproject.org/licenses/noncommercial/1.0.0/
In other words, a ‘shared-source’ license that makes the code available for review, contributions and even copying, but disallows unauthorized commercial use. This provides a middle road between the fully proprietary protections Sync is used to, and the new open landscape of Lemmy & friends that it is venturing into.
For Redditors coming here who are unfamiliar with open source, here’s a comprehensive introduction for those who care to find out: https://blog.erlend.sh/open-source-explained
In short, it is an essential antidote to enshittification.
Is there a simple explanation of what Sync does that’s so great, that e.g. RedReader doesn’t do, and that isn’t fairly straightforward for someone else to add to RedReader if it’s missing?
The simplest way is to download it for yourself and compare. For me, the layout, font sizing, navigation, and features gave me exactly the Reddit experience I wanted. I bounced back and forth between it and like 8 other apps and always went back to Sync because nothing felt more comfortable.
I’ve tried RedReader when the Sync shutdown was announced, the UI is clunky and feels very dated. Sync is the best overall app I have ever used, and it’s consistently gotten better over time, and at times when I thought improvements were simply no longer possible. It’s that good.
That’s unlikely, seeing that Sync for Reddit is not.
Highly doubt that, it’s a paid app, and if the code is open, everybody could just compile a clone and be done with it.
Yes, that means that we are limited to that one developer, but as much as I love FOSS, with this app, I’m perfectly on board.
I do how @ljdawson will make it open source.
For Reddit he have been on and off with updates and maintenance, with long periods of inactivity.
I mentioned elsewhere but Lemmy should implement the Reddit API so we can use RedReader on it. I don’t understand what is so great about Sync. I thought the idea of Lemmy was to be CEO-proof, to use someone’s term from another thread. That fails if people rely on a closed source program to access it.
How would he make money?
I’m unfamiliar with Sync so I don’t know why anyone thinks it is something that Lemmy needs. Maybe it is and I’m missing something. I used RedReader when I was still on reddit and it is a FOSS program. I have the impression it is comparable to Sync, but maybe I’m missing something.
The Lemmy software is all free. The people posting here aren’t getting paid. It’s all community work. So I don’t see how Sync is somehow special and in need of being the unique piece of the infrastructure that has to make a profit.
It could be that Lemmy simply isn’t that hot a business opportunity for Sync’s developer. If so, that is perfectly ok–I’m sure he has plenty of other attrative options.
If you don’t like that Sync is closed source you are free to use any other Lemmy app that is FOSS 🤷
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