Skip to content

Comment on Sparrow acquired by Googleparent

Comments

Yeah we got screwed. They just dropped the app. They are promising "big fixes" but that's about it. Lovely.

This is the bad side of "trusting" startups and their apps. Pisses me off. I mean (to all you startup guys out there), if you have no intention of continuing your work, AT LEAST OPEN SOURCE THE CODE so some of us can jump in and maintain it!

> Yeah we got screwed.

If the current version basically does the job that it's supposed to, then how did you get screwed? It's not like you spent hundreds of dollars on the app. The Mac version is only $10 for crying out loud.

No more updates, it could stop working anytime (like next week) when there is a new OS release.

>> No more updates, it could stop working anytime (like next week) when there is a new OS release.

That does not jive with the Sparrow Team's messaging on the iTunes and Mac app stores that "there will be no new features released for the Sparrow apps, other than minor maintenance and bug fixes".

Don't update to a new OS then if that's your concern?

Maybe I should stop using email while I'm at it.

That would be a separate solution. If you did that, you could feel free to upgrade your OS, since you wouldn't need Sparrow, in which case, what are we talking about?

That's a pretty stupid fucking argument, dude.

I would argue that just open sourcing the code could have even worse effects on the app/brand than a simple end of life. Clearly if the app in question had a good following, it was a decent product created by folks who knew what they were doing. By open sourcing it, anyone could jump in and that anyone may not be qualified to make the best product decisions. Maybe I'm just being too sentimental here, but I'd rather the product go out in a nice light rather than watching it slowly creep downhill to death.

I guess it would depend on who jumped in to maintain it. I mean, look around. There are many high quality open source apps.

Just saying.

mobile ones? graphical, desktop ones? not _that_ many

Because $10 buys you life long entitlement ...

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.