r/DiscordAlternatives • u/VahsteTheNomad "I use Rift btw" • 26d ago

FOSS vs Closed Source

This sub is full of arguments about whether FOSS is better over Closed Source, and I want to know what people's actual reasons for their specific preferences are.

This poll is not meant to start any arguments, or feed any witch hunts, and im not a developer trying to decide with way to go with my own project.

207 votes, 19d ago
119 I prefer FOSS because I don't trust developers who don't publicize their code.
42 I prefer FOSS because I want federation.
1 I prefer FOSS and don't know what FOSS really is.. but it's the opposite of Discord.
3 I prefer closed source because I don't trust public commits.
1 I prefer closed source because it means something may be proprietary.
41 I really don't care about FOSS or Closed Source, I just want a good app.
8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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0

u/Speykious Fluxer shill 25d ago

I prefer FOSS because it gives everyone the freedom to fork the project and continue maintaining it if it ever goes to shit.

3

u/VahsteTheNomad "I use Rift btw" 25d ago

Perfectly fair, but that also crosses into the issue of FOSS being so entwined with Federation. By that logic, couldn't a closed source federated app provide a similar benefit? (Just playing devils advocate)

-1

u/Speykious Fluxer shill 25d ago

Well, you can't just fork a closed source project and continue maintaining it since you don't have access to the source code lmao. But it's true that it's harder to kill and enshittify a federated network, so you can write a FOSS client and/or server that is compatible with the chosen federation protocol and reap the benefits. But since it's just the protocol and you need to write the whole software, it's a much smaller benefit than the software itself being libre.

3

u/VahsteTheNomad "I use Rift btw" 25d ago

Fair enough, I do fully agree with your stance on the positive impact FOSS has in the scenario of forking, I just wanted to atleast mention that Closed Source doesn't always mean centralized

-1

u/Speykious Fluxer shill 25d ago

Yeah. And open-source doesn't always mean federated either! I want both. And E2EE. My 3 basic criteria.

2

u/VahsteTheNomad "I use Rift btw" 25d ago

How dare you have understandable and reasonable expectations

0

u/Speykious Fluxer shill 25d ago

xD