Comment on How do you, or do you vet if a software will paywall features or "enshittify"?
jrgd@lemm.ee 1 week ago
A general checklist for flags that software will enshittify:
- owned by publicly-traded company
- backed by VC or other expecting sources of funding
- product is closed-source
- company tries to circumvent open-source licensing of product (often for financial gain)
- product has transferred ownership to a different company (through monetary transaction or similar)
- product incorporates DRM
- organization that owns the product has a track record for bad behavior
On their own, not all of these flags are excellent indicators. Some are better than others in a vacuum. If you see a product start to check several of these flags, it might be time to jump ship early (to a fork or other competing project).