I could not disagree more. Linux community is thriving and we're seeing more adaption than ever before due to the increase in free open source projects. If you're discouraged from collaborating in open source projects because "someone might make money" then, respectfully, choose another forum. It's not about making "OpenTibia like it was in 2007-2012". It's about creating a sustainable future for this community. You're talking about OpenTibia like it's a billion dollar business. Relax. Someone might indeed make a few EUR here and there. But it's not the end of the world.
<wall of text...>
You’re mixing ideology, assumptions, and personal attacks, so let’s separate things.
First: closed source != scam. That’s a lazy and dishonest shortcut. Plenty of legitimate, long-lived software is closed source, especially when it’s actively maintained by a small team or individual. Open source is a
model, not a moral high ground.
Second: I’m not “discouraged” by open source. I simply chose a different model. That’s allowed. The Linux comparison is irrelevant here. OpenTibia is not the Linux kernel, it’s a niche hobby ecosystem with a long history of forks, abandonware, and zero accountability. Pretending otherwise is romantic, not pragmatic.
Third: money. Calling it “chump change” while obsessing over it for several paragraphs is ironic. I charge for my work because it takes time, responsibility, and long-term commitment. If someone paid 3000 EUR for bug fixes, that’s because they valued the work. That’s not bragging, that’s a market signal. If others don’t care about money, great. No one is forcing them to buy anything.
Fourth: “you’re using other people’s code”. aka, TFS, Yes, legally, transparently, and within license terms. That’s how software works. The difference is that I also take responsibility for maintenance, support, and outcomes. Something many “community” projects conveniently avoid.
Fifth: the bus-factor argument. You’re describing a risk that exists in
every small software vendor, open or closed. Open source doesn’t magically solve abandonment, the OpenTibia graveyard is full of dead repos that prove that point. Support and continuity come from incentives and accountability, not GitHub stars.
Finally, the emotional rant about shutting down the forum says more about your frustration than my intentions. I’m not here to “save” the community, and I’m not obligated to align with your ideology to participate in it. I build things, people choose whether they want them, and that’s it.
If you prefer open source projects run by committees, contribute to those.
If you don’t see value in what I offer, don’t buy it.
But calling something a scam because it doesn’t match your worldview is just noise.
I’m done engaging with this line of argument, go make your own community.