Commercial Plans and Privacy
OnePile is free! You might be asking yourself: What are the plans to make money out of it? The short answer is: There will be a commercial plan in the future, but the basic functionality will remain free!
Let me go into detail a bit by first talking about the motivation to start this project. I am an indie developer based in Germany and doing programming for more than 30 years. I have worked in small and large companies, based in Europe and the Silicon Valley. I always published some code as Open Source and tried to contribute to other projects. But I was always sceptical about the power of big companies that have access to a big pile of sensitive personal data. As a developer I know that this architecture is not heaven sent. Instead it is mainly in place because knowing about contents helps selling advertisements and binds customers to the company.
So I asked myself: How would a good alternative platform look like?
The answer is: OnePile. A decentralized data storage with strong encryption when data is leaving your home zone. An open format (I'm going to publish the details soon) that you can also read without using my software. You are not locked in, you have full control, you can still share data with your co-workers and friends.
That sounds great, but why has that not been done before? I also wonder about the situation. There have been good technical approaches, but they usually did not look nice or required a server and technical background. Or they simply disappeared again, because the cloud services were more convenient. And that is probably the main reason for the situation as it is today. Convenience kills privacy. And most people do not even consider this being a problem, until it is too late...
Therefore, I thought with my experience in the field I should give it a try.
The project is not Open Source, because I believe that would only slow down the development. And of course to work on it also in the next years I need a financial funding. The current idea is to have the basic version remain free for all platforms. But also create commercial solutions for individuals and businesses. More features for power users and professionals will hopefully justify the price tag.
I did not yet decide wether to offer a subscription or an alternative model, but I'm tending to something that is generating constant income to fund further development.
I am looking forward hearing from you giving me some feedback on the plan or sharing more ideas about the future of OnePile via support form. The development process is pretty much public via GitHub.