Thoughts on going open source?

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Thoughts on going open source?

Raven<Nabble>
Nabble is considering going open source. We are interested in your thoughts on this proposal.

Good idea? Or not?
Would you contribute code?
Would you run your own instance of Nabble?

Why/why not?

Or anything else you have to say on the topic.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Gary Lewis
I understand the concept of open source.  But heretofore I've not done any coding - or maybe I should say I've not coded in anything that would be relevant.  However, if there was a repository of vetted coding I might be interested in trying some of it.  But "checked out" means someone would have to test it and give it a rating or somesuch.

As for running my own instance, no thank you.  I don't have the infrastructure with which to do that.  I'd rather Nabble continue to do that.  But if that requires some annual fee in order to make Nabble viable then let's talk.
I'm not Nabble support, but have Nabble running on my Weebly website: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

GregChapman
In reply to this post by Raven<Nabble>
I am a great believer in open source software and reckon it is perhaps the only way to keep a software project alive especially where that software has a diminishing market.

Since the development of the major social media and blogging platforms and the development of "no coding required" web site builders such as WordPress, Wix and Weebly few people need an embeddable forum these days.

Having followed this forum for a few days more than eight years I would think we have have lost the opportunity to take advantage of no more than half a dozen people who might have spent some time as core programmers with the project. My experience with an open source project I started in 2002 suggests that some would only take a passing interest, develop a particular feature and then disappear again, so I do not believe that going open source, in itself, would attract a significant number of programmers to the team.

The project I started was a plain text email program (like a forum these days, a specialist tool in a diminishing market) It continues to this day, although I have been less involved over the last four years. My efforts were entirely based on documenting the software. Indeed the programmers all approached me after I produced some initial English user documentation of the extremely crude Japanese original.

I have no modern programming skills beyond HTML and CSS. (I was fine in BASIC and Z80 Assembler back in the 1980s, but since moving to CP/M and DOS I found all the software I needed already available and never got beyond doing things most folk considered magic with DOS Batch files.)

So, to answer your specifics...
Good idea? Or not?
Good idea! It could be the only way to keep Nabble going.
Would you contribute code?
I'm not capable of offering anything to the core program, but I would continue to do what I could in documenting the project and providing CSS templates.
Would you run your own instance of Nabble?
Should Nabble cease to operate its current hosting service then, almost certainly, YES!
I host about a dozen sites for various personal purposes and non-commercial organisations. Almost all include a Nabble Forum, Blog or News app. It would be far simpler to run my own instance of Nabble than try to learn and run a dozen different independent platforms. The huge advantage of Nabble is its "node-based" approach and the flexibility the offers for presenting content in a wide variety of formats.

Maybe Nabble needs to adopt the WordPress Model and provide a crude advert-funded hosted forum at Nabble.com, with various paid-for options such as going advert-free or adding more than a certain number of sub-forums or displaying in Blog or News formats and also run an Nabble.org where the programmers would hang out and folk like me could develop CSS templates that could be offered as add-ons at Nabble.com and download the whole thing to run on my own server.
Volunteer Helper - but recommending that users move off the platform!
Once the admin for GregHelp now deleted.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Raven<Nabble>
Thanks for the feedback.

It has been decided. Nabble is going open-source. There's a bit of preparation work to do so it won't happen straight away.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

GregChapman
This post was updated on .
What is the relationship between "open source Nabble" and Blasma?

At one point we were being told Nabble users would be migrated to the new product Blasma as Nabble development was to be suspended.

Now it appears that there is a new team behind Nabble and going open source is seen as an alternative way forward that has the potential to continue its development and, perhaps, the link between Nabble and a forthcoming Blasma has been broken. Is that the case?

As will be known, I am keen to see Nabble better documented and this may be an area where I could assist the team currently driving Nabble forward. It was certainly key in attracting those with programming skills to the team in the previous open source project with which I was involved.

Feel free to approach me off-forum to discuss ways I could help.
Volunteer Helper - but recommending that users move off the platform!
Once the admin for GregHelp now deleted.
NS
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

NS
This post was updated on .
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Harvey
In reply to this post by Raven<Nabble>
It's a commitment.  If you want to gain momentum you will have to stick with it for a long run.

From the outside it's hard to know if Nabble is committed or not.
HTTPS Please!
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Raven<Nabble>
In reply to this post by NS
NS wrote
Please! does it mean that Nabble will no longer host forums?..
No, Nabble is not going anywhere. Nabble will continue to exist and host forums.

Perhaps a functional Ad system can be introduced to keep it on.
Yes, ads are the main way for Nabble to survive, currently the only source of revenue. The implementation is an ongoing process.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Gary Lewis
Again, I don't want ads, but I'm willing to pay to keep Nabble a viable entity.
I'm not Nabble support, but have Nabble running on my Weebly website: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Raven<Nabble>
In reply to this post by GregChapman
GregChapman wrote
What is the relationship between "open source Nabble" and Blasma?

At one point we were being told Nabble users would be migrated to the new product Blasma as Nabble development was to be suspended.

Now it appears that there is a new team behind Nabble and going open source is seen as an alternative way forward that has the potential to continue its development and, perhaps, the link between Nabble and a forthcoming Blasma has been broken. Is that the case?
I'm not involved with Blasma, so from my perspective, Nabble is separate to Blasma. There isn't a timeline for Blasma.

Open-source Nabble isn't a huge thing, so it's not really a replacement for anything.

What has changed since the posts on here about Blasma is that Nabble is generating ad revenue again. I have an interest in Nabble continuing to run and generate revenue.

There are small changes that Nabble needs to continue to remain viable, such as bug fixes. But if anyone wants additional things, new features and such, that's where open source comes in. They could contribute code or even commission me to do it.

As will be known, I am keen to see Nabble better documented and this may be an area where I could assist the team currently driving Nabble forward.
Documentation would be great. We could work something out to make it easy to contribute. Maybe a wiki.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Raven<Nabble>
In reply to this post by Harvey
Harvey wrote
It's a commitment.  If you want to gain momentum you will have to stick with it for a long run.

From the outside it's hard to know if Nabble is committed or not.
Open-sourcing doesn't necessarily mean anyone would contribute or anything would happen. I'm not sure how much difference it will make, so I can't say much about commitment or whether this decision represents commitment.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Raven<Nabble>
In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
Gary Lewis wrote
Again, I don't want ads, but I'm willing to pay to keep Nabble a viable entity.
The question is how many people are willing to pay to have ads removed. Setting up a payment and subscription system for only a few people might not be worth the effort (although it could be done manually instead). And we don't have much else to sell such as premium features. But if anyone really wants to give us money we could have some way to donate, such as a Patreon.
NS
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

NS
This post was updated on .
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

GregChapman
In reply to this post by Raven<Nabble>
Raven<Nabble> wrote
Documentation would be great. We could work something out to make it easy to contribute. Maybe a wiki.
I don't have much experience of working with a Wiki. I have worked with one based on Mediawiki but I found that unecessarily complicated for the purpose for which it was created with a lot of techniques to learn that didn't imitate BBCode or other systems I was used to.

I think it should be possible to use Nabble and create "Discussion" sub-forums for each area/page to which anyone can post questions and suggested changes in wording and keep editing the main pages limited to a few trusted editors. That way there is nothing new to learn.

I must make time to see how I could combine Nabble's existing documentation with the stuff on my GregHelp forum.
Volunteer Helper - but recommending that users move off the platform!
Once the admin for GregHelp now deleted.
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Gary Lewis
I like the idea of using Nabble.  And GregHelp is a very good start.
I'm not Nabble support, but have Nabble running on my Weebly website: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Mencey Melgar
This is definitely a great step forward. I wish I had this kind of ease when I started playing with naml.

As Greg said, there've been many advanced users interested in evolve and optimize nabble's code, but they used to loose interest or didn't find the place to collaborate. Here's a clear example.

Where/when will you publish the repo?
:) Helper
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Re: Thoughts on going open source?

Unknown Author
In reply to this post by Raven<Nabble>
Raven<Nabble> wrote
Good idea? Or not?
Absolutely!
Raven<Nabble> wrote
Would you contribute code?
Possibly once I learn more.
Raven<Nabble> wrote
Would you run your own instance of Nabble?
If you mean my own edited version, then yes most likely.
Raven<Nabble> wrote
Why/why not?
In my opinion Open Source software fares well.