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Ask HN: Build trust for closed source product

1•vitalikpie•1h ago
Hi HN,

I'm a developer of an early B2C niche product. Software is free and intended to be free. My plan is to charge for services only when there a demand for that service. So pretty fair deal - no rug-pulling, just a free software without any catch.

My audience care about privacy and security a lot. At least 5% of people asked if it's possible to make product open source.

With all respect to open-source I think it removes one of the moats - code. With AI and things like https://malus.sh/ it feels like open sourcing commercial product is way to loose one of the moats. It's not quite possible to vibe-code similar product at the moment (I honestly tried - LLMs are not there yet for my language and domain).

Thus said, I understand that people are not asking about the code itself. It will just feel more secure if they can skim it and verify if there is any security/privacy problems.

Is there any way to build trust without giving the code away?

Comments

gotwaz•1h ago
Think about what your own needs are. Moats are only required till the need is meet.
vitalikpie•1h ago
Sorry I'm dumb. had to ask LLM what you mean.

Do you mean

Your moat only matters until you’ve solved a real user need. Once the need is clearly being met, the moat matters less than trust, adoption, and execution.

If yes - I wonder what does it mean for a product.

Do you mean that after need is met (PMF reached) no one can beat: - brand - distribution - support - community?

dabinat•46m ago
You could provide code to enterprise customers for a fee, with contractural restrictions on how they can use it.

You could also have trusted third parties see the code and vouch for it.

Or you may decide that the 5% asking for this feature aren’t worth it. You don’t have to capture every customer.

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