OpenXTalk Forums

So I invested the last few months of spare time into a FOSS project nearing it's alpha release when license compliance reminded me that LiveCode wasn't Open Source any longer. This meant that my niche project, if even mildly successful, would basically just be a solo project unless enthusiasts happen to think I've laid a golden egg worth their own financial investment. Additionally, my heavy use of the poly-widgets from the 2022 sale means an additional line item for any would-be contributor.

I just don't like that as a path forward, as my FOSS project has three goals:

1. For someone to think my idea is stupid-simple, and make a much, much better version of it.
2. For people to start repurposing landfill-bound technology into tools and services that they own and don't have to spend entire percentage points of their income to use.
3. For the project (and/or it's derivatives) to serve as a vehicle to a refurbished hardware business.

I had considered, maybe, releasing two distinct versions of my niche project: with and without widgets. However, I think it makes more sense to strip out the licensed components and use OpenXTalk as the base. LiveCode compatibility, in this context, would operate similar to that of HyperCard compatibility across the engine's history. LC users can easily fork the project and go crazy, so that's still a "win". Plus, the financial barrier towards licensing would be obliterated. That sucks for LC, but they're busy blazing a trail into the future, and their future doesn't seem to incorporate Linux. (You do you, bro.)

I'm about 80% convinced right now. I've built successful projects with unfinished development tools before, and even when the tools are "mature" (i.e., HyperCard, SuperCard, MetaCard, RunRev, LiveCode.), there's always a laundry list of issues standing in my way towards the myth of development perfection.

So, would you build a FOSS project with OpenXTalk starting today?

Would you recommend against such an early adoption?

I have a project that has been open source for the last 10 years (Devawriter Pro) and developed with LC, and its next 'incarnation' [5th SDLC delayed owing to this, but an extensive rehash] will be built with some version of OXT.

https://richmondmathewson.owlstown.net/projects

BUT my project has never depended on things such as widgets as it started with LC 4.5 when those things did not exist, and they have never been required.

I continue to build all my stuff with OpenXTalk.
A list of which is here:
https://www.tsites.co.uk/sites/software/

I'd still use it tomorrow for Free and Open Source Projects, (I'll use it today no doubt)
The only thing I'd add is that in a corporate / education environment, what might prevent the use of it is the engine being viewed as an exploitable security risk. But this can be negated over a network by the use of segregated vlans and good firewalls.