I read the news today oh, boy! HC might soon be open source!
I’m really excited. I have been somewhat disappointed about certain policies in the past (?). But I appreciated the frankness of Veit and other HC people. I never felt to volunteer for HC before. However, opening up the source could also open up a lot of possibilities. To solidify the legal framework of HC, to create stronger links and share code between the different networks. Of course there are many more implications, but let’s see and wait how it turns out. I always wanted to help out many different initiatives, so in the meanwhile I already offered my help on the HC forum.
Wow. I’ll believe it when I see it, but if HC releases their code I’ll be happy to help.
They’ll need to remove their censorship of words like “Couchsurfing” and “Bewelcome” of course.
- Morgan
íf it happens, that’s a remarkable step forward indeed. But, to me personally, opening up the code is just one side of the coin, the other more important one being organisational transparency.
Along the same lines here – for me it was never about open source (though by seeing the most recent standpoints of CS, I do tend to agree more and more with OCS views), but about overall fairness and openness in policies and decision-making. So I would not just blindly jump onto HC or any other organization that does not actively address these issues.
HC would need to take responsibility for their Google ads before I sign up. I will not condone “Russian mail order brides” ads, just because they want the cash from Google.
Though Open Source does not automatically mean transparency and fairness, it does help create a culture that demands transparency and fairness because open source would fail in a ‘dictatorial’ system. It requires organizations to be more accountable.
There’s no way HC’s current governance structure will survive open source. They must reform it at least a little bit when they do go open source. (if they do)
- jared
Well, I have been reading your blog posts daily and the reason I come on your blog frequently is its compelling content� Regards�