[HN Gopher] Datastar response to allegations
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       Datastar response to allegations
        
       Author : alvaroflm
       Score  : 50 points
       Date   : 2025-10-11 21:55 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (data-star.dev)
 (TXT) w3m dump (data-star.dev)
        
       | dinkleberg wrote:
       | The amount of front page space they've taken over the past few
       | days is impressive.
        
       | foofoo12 wrote:
       | All this fuss because there was no pricing link on the front DS
       | page. There still isn't.
       | 
       | There's nothing wrong with charging for your work, but it's
       | common courtesy to be clear about pricing.
        
         | BoredPositron wrote:
         | Discoverability is key if you charge for certain features.
         | Placing it in references is a bit odd.
        
         | infamia wrote:
         | They think most folks should avoid Pro (it is just convenience
         | fluff and some potential anti-patterns). Putting it on the
         | front page would cause more harm than good?
        
       | scuff3d wrote:
       | From what I can tell this seems like a classic example of devs
       | just not communicating. On mobile I don't see any mention of a
       | "Pro" option on the front page, and I don't see any "essays"
       | about it either. Perhaps its buried in one of the essays, or
       | maybe it's been communicated elsewhere, but if you're planning to
       | launch a paid service around an open source app it's really a
       | good idea to communicate the intent clearly BEFORE it's launched.
       | If it just comes out of no where it feels to the community like
       | they're getting rug pulled. On top of that terms like "Pro" and
       | "Premium" and "Plus" have been ruined by predatory subscription
       | models. Similar thing happened to Hyperland a while back and I
       | think a lot has to do with the language used.
       | 
       | That said, the terms seem perfectly reasonable, and a life long
       | license is great. Though 300 dollars is going to cause sticker
       | shock to a solo dev I think.
       | 
       | Edit:
       | 
       | To the devs I would recommended adding something like "All
       | features of Datastar are free and open source. If you would like
       | to support us consider donating or purchasing a lifetime license
       | for access to <insert stuff here>", to the home page, maybe under
       | the intro to the project" And drop the "Pro" branding.
        
       | wewewedxfgdf wrote:
       | "Allegations" implies criminal wrongdoing.
       | 
       | "Response to entitled grumpy people" is probably more the mark.
       | 
       | I would not tar my own project with the word "allegation" cause
       | now you sound like a crim.
        
         | antonvs wrote:
         | I would have said "response to misunderstandings".
        
         | Waterluvian wrote:
         | I think the suggested alternative is a considerably less
         | professional way for one to conduct themselves.
        
       | andersmurphy wrote:
       | This really has to stop. But since you're here (built with
       | datastar):
       | 
       | https://checkboxes.andersmurphy.com/?x=0&y=29878
        
       | sgarland wrote:
       | I hadn't heard about Datastar until this brouhaha started, but
       | having read everything, I've come to the conclusion that many
       | people are entitled primadonnas.
       | 
       | I really do not understand the outrage. Nothing has been taken
       | away, it hasn't been relicensed, etc. I saw someone complaining
       | that extracting the commit prior to the change was "an arcane git
       | command." Are you serious? If you can't figure out how to get the
       | parent of a given commit, I have no idea how you stay employed in
       | tech.
       | 
       | I applaud the library author for making some money while also not
       | rug-pulling. I personally think the license should be more
       | copyleft, but if anything, the fact that it isn't should negate
       | anyone's complaints.
       | 
       | It's almost as if there is a disturbingly large percentage of the
       | community that has no idea how to code, doesn't have the drive to
       | learn - much less produce something original and market it - and
       | just fakes it by vibe-coding on top of libraries and frameworks.
        
       | stepbeek wrote:
       | Reminds me of the Rich Hickey post Open Source is Not About You.
       | 
       | https://gist.github.com/richhickey/1563cddea1002958f96e7ba95...
        
       | rovr138 wrote:
       | > For v1, we moved a handful of convenience plugins into Datastar
       | Pro.
       | 
       | and
       | 
       | > Nothing you can build was taken from you; we set a support
       | boundary
       | 
       | If it was available on core, it was supported by them. If they
       | moved it to Pro, isn't still supported by them?
       | 
       | Not sure what the 'support boundary' is. If they didn't want to
       | provide official support for it, wasn't 'core' the better
       | solution for them anyway? Wouldn't pay require them to officially
       | support it?
       | 
       | ----
       | 
       | The ability to build is separate from the convenience of
       | prebuilt. It is paywalling things. This is like saying, 'you can
       | send electrical pulses to your computer, no need for an OS or
       | tooling'.
       | 
       | If everything is achievable through the same api, then the
       | plugins wouldn't do anything. If they simplify things, then do
       | they do add something, convenience. This is what plugins do,
       | which they say aren't needed? But if they're not needed, what's
       | Pro for?
       | 
       | Yes, it's a 501c3... it's still commercial since they're
       | selling...
       | 
       | If it's stable, no v2, plugins aren't needed, it's a 501c3,
       | there's no shares, equity... what's the point of Pro? "The goal
       | is to fund the work and draw a clear support boundary," What are
       | they funding?
       | 
       | By adding a Pro subscription, what's the incentive to work on
       | core?
       | 
       | ---
       | 
       | As an outsider it just looks as a way to justify Pro. But it's
       | not a technical explanation or explains the maintenance policy.
        
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       (page generated 2025-10-11 23:00 UTC)