MQTT-Explorer
MQTT-Explorer copied to clipboard
thomasnordquist
Project abandoned?
Thanks for this awesome app!
Is this project abandoned?
A lot of open issues and PRs.
Yes, the author is not updating the code since years and basically is also not very active here, his last activity has been a reply on this issue: https://github.com/thomasnordquist/MQTT-Explorer/issues/683#issuecomment-1357485710 on Dec 19, 2022. Lots of people asking for his return on the project or a change to the licensing that would allow others to continue developing it, but alas, he's not answering anymore.
@ilgrank thanks, sad to hear..
@thomasnordquist would you consider loosening the license for this awesome app, so people can continue maintaining it?
Anyone with a good alternative to the software?
Despite being unmaintained for a few years at this point, It's still arguably one of the best solutions out there.
@ilgrank thanks, sad to hear..
@thomasnordquist would you consider loosening the license for this awesome app, so people can continue maintaining it?
PING @thomasnordquist, sorry for being a pain in the ***. Just can't wrap my head around this amazing piece of tech being unmaintained!
Somebody just needs to fork this and the community will likely jump in to help
Somebody just needs to fork this and the community will likely jump in to help
The issue, is the license.
https://github.com/thomasnordquist/MQTT-Explorer?tab=License-1-ov-file#readme
https://www.tldrlegal.com/license/creative-commons-attribution-noderivatives-4-0-international-cc-by-nd-4-0
Long story short, the license prevents others from modifying, and then sharing this code/project.
So, unless @thomasnordquist changes to a less restrictive license, or decides to start maintaining this project again-
It is as good as dead.
Doesn't the license only come into play if it's enforced? So if it's abandoned who is going to enforce it
Doesn't the license only come into play if it's enforced? So if it's abandoned who is going to enforce it
That's not how licenses works though.. The Non-derivative license prevents us from forking and sharing the fork.
Beside the potentially legal exposure (however unlikely) putting effort into a project without a proper license is a no-go.
I think his family took it over to this one... https://mqtt-explorer.com/ https://github.com/thomasnordquist/MQTT-Explorer
@jeeftor He isn't dead, he's just not very active on github anymore, he did a single pull request in the last year (November). @Jackfritt If you check the Github link for that project it links here...
Doesn't the license only come into play if it's enforced? So if it's abandoned who is going to enforce it
That's not how licenses works though.. The Non-derivative license prevents us from forking and sharing the fork.
Beside the potentially legal exposure (however unlikely) putting effort into a project without a proper license is a no-go.
If you rewind the clock 5 years, it was AGPL:
https://github.com/thomasnordquist/MQTT-Explorer/tree/ea7994dad945dba2291d097ea233def9942761e3?tab=readme-ov-file
If you rewind the clock 5 years, it was AGPL:
https://github.com/thomasnordquist/MQTT-Explorer/tree/ea7994dad945dba2291d097ea233def9942761e3?tab=readme-ov-file
Doesn't look like there are that many differences in the last 5 years. Perhaps we should fork that to a new project.
Yes, someone should fork it from 5 years ago when it was still AGPL, everyone move their PR's, and then we all continue on forward with this project.
Maybe it's me - but I can't build from the git repo. 'yarn' complains that the older packages are needed (my interp'). So I think this is totally dead as an open project.
So the license got added in this commit (2019).
https://github.com/thomasnordquist/MQTT-Explorer/commit/9320fa252e0a630f3d933fbb3bcd83847ca6d381
- Does that mean anything prior to this commit is fair game?
So the license got added in this commit (2019).
- Does that mean anything prior to this commit is fair game?
Basically, up to the limitations of its prior license
Hello there, for me time is a very limited resource, and at the end of the day I try to finally close my laptop. This is one reason I do not maintain this project (or any other private projects) at the moment.
The license will stay like this for now, the main goal is to protect this project to be commercially distributed in any way.
My previous experiences with collborators was sadly not optimal, therefore I was discouraged to pursue this further. I will request @bj00rn to be a maintainer of this project (since he already spend some effort to get in contact with me).
I will also help with the distribution of new versions.
There are a few things which are kind of urgent for this project:
- A new version of electron (outdate SSL certificates)
- Removal of the telemetry (not used anymore / opt-in telemetry)
- since it is no longer operational removing it should be easy to do
- option: self-hosted telemetry / vs. telemetry service free for open source usage
Hey Thomas, glad to hear you're still around! Thanks again for this awesome program. It really is the best MQTT frontend out there and I use it daily. Amazing work!
The license will stay like this for now, the main goal is to protect this project to be commercially distributed in any way.
That's very unfortunate. Please reconsider this.
It was AGPL once before, so it's already out there to be abused by companies. Keeping it CC-BY-ND 4.0 just hurts the community by preventing an active user from forking and improving it.
As of right now, it's been dead for 2 years. There are 64 PRs and no-one to merge them.
I do hope that @bj00rn is able to maintain it, but please consider opening up the license.
@thomasnordquist, I'm sorry to hear you have been burnt by previous collaborations, and understand your stance. Please remember that many of us here in this community don't always have the best communication methods and often cannot see other's reasons and point of view. Being recently diagnosed as Autistic myself, I do know I have not always been the best communicator in the past.
I will not comment on your choice of license etc. That is your choice alone.
@bj00rn, I welcome any work you do on this tool. I am looking forward in particular to see it working on the Raspberry Pi, my current main machine!
Is there a license which prohibits commercial use but opens up for open source - forking etc? Or does such a thing not exist?
Is there a license which prohibits commercial use but opens up for open source - forking etc? Or does such a thing not exist?
Creative Commons NonCommercial
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en
@thomasnordquist thanks for the invite! I wasn't really expecting to be assigned maintainer but merely hoping to re-open a discussion on how to move this awesome project forward. That being said, I am willing to invest some time and effort to get this project up to date and try to get some momentum going here.
Let's get the janitorial side of things up to date first so we can do a new release.
- Dependencies are way outdated
- CI is failing.
Additionally there are a few long due, low hanging PRs that seem like they could be merged without any major considerations.
Disclaimer Im pretty well versed in react+redux but my skills concerning electron are basic at the very best, so please be kind/patient here.
If some of you want to contribute feel free to open PRs. This will have to be a team effort going forward.