Ask HN: Should I open source my html5 games?

10 points by lessmilk 12y ago ↗ HN

Hi HN,

A few weeks ago I started a pet project: build one new html5 game per week [0]. I already submitted this project to HN, and got a lot of positive feedback [1].

A few people asked me to open source my games. That sounds great, but I basically know nothing about open source. Do you have any advice on this? Here are some of my concerns/questions:

1. I don't want to see people submitting my games on various app stores 2. I'm not a very good developer, so my code is not super clean 3. Can opensourcing help me getting more people interested in my project?

Thanks for your help!

[0] My project: www.lessmilk.com [1] Previous HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7036486

2 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 13.3 ms ] thread

tagabek 12y ago ↗

1. If you open source your code, there is always the chance of others 'stealing' it. If this concern is a deal breaker, don't open source it.

2. With a project like yours, this can be a way to catalog how you've grown as a developer.

3. Open sourcing will provide an additional perk for people that might be interested in your project (especially developers).

virtue3 12y ago ↗

Be careful about open sourcing art as it allows anyone to basically use your art. You can do a lua style license where they have to mention somewhere that they got code/art from you and link back to your page.

I'd really recommend using separate licenses for "academic" and "commercial" use.