Why Proprietary Tooling Hurts Your FOSS Project
jan@aina.li
2025-08-10
Press O for overview.
About me
Caveat
“This is not a rant.”
The contradiction
“We create open code… but use closed tools.”
Restrictions
Exporting data?
Forking workspaces?
Customize work environment?
Tools shape culture
If your tools aren’t open, your culture isn’t fully open either.
Exclusion is real
“Some people simply can’t participate.”
Access
Not all tools are available on all platforms.
Accessibility
Slick is not the same as accessible.
Geopolitics
E.g. Organic maps blocked on GitHub.
Regimes and data
Contributors may not afford to pay with their data.
Solution(s)
Self host or use open source services in non-restrictive jurisdictions.
Platform dependency
“Closed platforms = vendor lock-in.”
Easy to be drawn in by deals for open source projects.
Enshittification
Pay more to keep same services etc.
Changing Terms of Service/Use
Sunsetting
Power imbalance
“Proprietary tools favor corporations.”
Unequal access to
- enterprise subscriptions
- training
- sandboxes
- access quotas
- collaborative editing
- video calls
- chat
- repository environments
- Web: aina.li
- E-mail: jan@aina.li
- Mastodon: @ainali@social.coop
Lost opportunity
“You’re feeding Big Tech.”
Feeding the machine
Metrics and usage data.
Money?
Clout.
Build your ecosystem
Bug reports
Submit patches
Build features you need
Improve the documentation
You lose idealists
“Some contributors won’t join at all.”
Voting with their feet
Many experienced FOSS contributors care deeply about freedom.
"But proprietary tools are better!"
Convenience Catch 22
Contribute to the ecosystems
You don’t have to settle for bad tools.
You can help improve the open tools by using and contributing to them.
"But everyone already uses X!"
“Network effects are not bound to last forever.”
Experiment
Bridge chats. Mirror repos.
Never too early, never too late
The best time to diversify your tooling was yesterday.
The second best is today.
It's not all or nothing
“Start small. Move forward.”
Use the Commons
With love and care.
Replace tools
Change is possible
You don’t have to fix everything at once.
Pick one tool. Make one change.
Then another.
Change is possible and contagious.
Don't beat your self up
It's okay to not be perfect.
Summary
“Let your tools reflect your values.”
More than code
Open source is more than licenses.
It’s culture. It’s community. It’s freedom.
Don’t build freedom on a foundation you don’t control.
Q&A
Contact
Acknowledgments
Proudly done in text using reveal.js, org-reveal, org-mode and gedit.
(All images have their own credits next to them.)
