2y ago

I can relate.

14 comments

Give me the code ( and preferably a docker image) or it ain't open source
- The majority of open source software doesn't make sense to be used via a docker image and the definition for open source needs more than just source code access
  You may find this pedantic but it really is an important distinction. I've had licensed access to source code that was not open source and very restrictive through various jobs in the past (not talking about code I worked on but business agreements that included access to source code for audits and stuff)
  Having access to the source code does not necessarily give access to use, share, modify. The two biggest requirements for open source beyond just the actual source code is the ability to modify and redistribute. Source-available software is NOT good enough

100% hate this.
There is a service I use that does this and while I hate it, I can understand why they do it.
I guess if the api was open then it would be hard to block people abusing it to scrape all their data.

So as someone who is part of the problem with my PirateWeather.net API, I feel this, and wish there was a better way. The issue is that the cloud makes so many things possible (in my case, downloading and processing 500 GB/day of data), which is awesome, but also can’t just be wide open, since the bill would be outrageous. One thing I’m toying with is using email addresses as an API key with some sort of verification process afterwards, since this might be easier for people to use and still prevent abuse. Long term, the way forward is to reduce download and processing requirements to make self hosting feasible. It’s a tricky problem to solve though.
- If it’s called ‘open source’ then the source code should be available for people to self host. Don’t call it open source if it’s not. 🤦🏻‍♂️
- personally, I think something like yours that does a lot of processing on your end is a different beast. I can see why you would want to put something like an api key in front to prevent some abuse.
- How big are the data sets for individual regions/countries? Could you host them via torrents?

Had this recently with Facebox. You can't even get a key anymore so it's completely useless. I can't find any alternatives either so I guess I'm just fucked

It's easy to understand why they do this
- You cant call it open source when you need a goddamn API key from a server to do it, because wheres that api generator algorithm?
  
  If it's truly open source you can always host it yourself. But if you want the convenience of using someone else server then you will need an API key and pay if you reach a certain usage limit.
- It is, but also easy to understand why I avoid it.

i totally understand where you're coming from. it's frustrating when things don't work out as expected. just hang in there, things will get better!

14 comments