This is not an application. It's a website that shows information. Therefore there is no need to trust the code - the same as 99.9% of all websites and your trusted developer will confirm same for you. If you don't want to use a website as you don't trust it because you don't have the source code, you probably have an interesting Internet experience.
So, again: The code will not be open sourced.
Long term: Proceed with improving the database as we do everyday and see where it takes us with minimum overhead to guarantee longevity. So far so good. :)
Thanks for the long response which I quickly skimmed.
To cut it short: We opted for this route, are very happy with the result, the feedback and the contributions. You may choose not to contribute or start your own project (as you already checked domains) but we are happy the way it is. The more overhead we generate (new structure, open source), the higher the possibility of failure and wasting money. Right now it's a slim and streamlined project that has little to no costs of running which means we can leave it running for decades to come (if there is still demand). The manual labour is still there but as it's a passion project, we want to invest that time but into the project and not into solving problems we don't face. In the end we are an efficient operation and not a German Behörde. :)
Generally it would be possible for both the code and the data to be open source.
What would be the benefit of open source code?
A benefit would be code contributions that increase security. But as this is a simple website and not an encrypted messenger app people install or something similar, that is a minor concern and we are happy with managing that risk ourselves.
On the other hand, it further adds overhead with potentially no benefit and people who create similar projects (which there are lots of) have it even easier to create a (subjective) user-friendly and great solution. That is not something we want to support as this would further move us away from streamlining that database which leads to inefficiency.
We also noted that each project is quite reserved when it comes to streamlining benefits and there are lots of different communities with different opinions and approaches. We streamline it our way and people may use it or even contribute if they feel like it.
Also: https://www.trevorlasn.com/blog/open-source-is-where-dreams-go-to-die
What would be the benefit open open source data?
People could probably contribute quicker as it would open more approaches instead of submitting our form.
Other than that it would be a nightmare to streamline as people would have lots of opinions about which categories to add, how to structure them, what to add, what not to add, how to categorize entries. We simplify this by giving people the option to suggest whatever category, company and product they want. Then we have a suggestions database, can cluster, validate, collect more info, evaluate and then add it. For us that's a great way of doing same but it's obviously not a perfect way - yet it works very well for us and does not seem to stop people from contributing everyday.
Having this as a point to start (especially when we add new categories that need some entries to start off) is great! Then everybody can contribute to the database once the category and a few entries are in there. :)
We double-check all submitted entries, so for us it would still be a lot of work as we don't want to spam the database with lots of companies without a proven online trackrecord for example. Therefore yes, we can work with streamlined data that contains all the fields we ask for in the submission form but the work on our end would be very similar to ensure a certain amount of quality among the entries in the database.
Thanks for your kind words and thoughtful questions! :)
Here’s the quick breakdown:
Why a Company?
In Germany, liability protection is essential for any public project. Using an existing company (a common practice) minimizes personal risk. Many projects operate similarly - they just don’t always highlight their legal structure. We’re transparent because the law requires an imprint, not because we’re "corporate".
Data Ownership
Public facts (e.g., product/company names) can’t be copyrighted. Contributors' data remains public knowledge. We only claim copyright on our own original content and creative work. We also double-check all hints submitted and then create the complete data set.
Why Not Open Source?
We respect open-source ideals but saw other projects struggle with clutter/inefficiency. We opted for a focused, curated approach to keep the database simple and user-friendly which seems to work exactly as intended based on your and other users' feedback.
Why Not Non-Profit?
First of all, we started the project overnight and therefore opted for an existing structure. German non-profits require heavy paperwork and oversight - overkill for a small, revenue-free project that we already invest a lot of time in but want to limit the financial spending. Also: No donations = no risk of mismanagement, which unfortunately happens left and right in the non-profit world.
Therefore personally what I would care about as a user or contributor:
Our Intent
This is a passion project:
Hope this helps and can be used as a reference in the future as these valid questions came up before and we answered them via other channels in the past.
Although nobody asked here yet: We went with .net as whatever we thought was a catchy name was not available in the .eu domain space. We obviously would have chosen .eu if it was available but people registered all those domain names to then not use same as it often happens on the Internet.
Thanks for the ping! :)
Thank you for the kind words! :)
Busy days - so the feedback took a bit longer, sorry!
The next infographic is ready. Any feedback is appreciated!
There is a backup as we work on it as a team and more than one person has access to it. No need to worry.