Context: as we are working on https://nodes.io and hit similar questions i can share what approach we are taking now. Out platform is based on JavaScript and npm so it allows extensibility and bring-your-own-lib as you wish. Because of that and the nature of our own work (data viz with big or sensitive datasets) we decided to go for desktop app where you own your code and data. To enable git, graph layout is stored in json (ok not the best format) and each Node's code is in it's own CommonJS module. Additionally you can compile or export your app to one bundle.js+html+assets package for deployment to static hosting. As we enter the public beta soon we are left with dilemma on making this sustainable. This is internal tool that pays the bills by supporting our project so in theory we could open source it but there is no resources for full support, PRs, community etc atm. So our current idea is to have free but proprietary IDE app with licensing limiting commercial use ("pay if you earn") and open source runtime allowing you to compile your project from command line to safeguard your projects even more. I can see two ways forward: - Nodes Pro where we have some advance or niche-specific features in the IDE (e.g. realtime collaboration, cloud hosting) - Content: where you try to leverage your know-how and provide value through paid nodes bundles (e.g. for architectural visualisation or ML) or courses and premium learning materials As mentioned in the original thread going free and open means anybody can do two above but there are benefits in community, opportunity gain for parent company, paid customisation gigs etc.

i think that’s why a lot of the success stories (wordpress, red hat) have to do with support contracts and hosting—those are businesses that others could take over if say automattic went out of business

i think collaboration makes a lot of sense too (and i wouldn’t describe these as “niche features”)

but as far as development environments go, id rather see them be open source with a plugin architecture—then hosting and collaboration could just be two default available plugins you provide, developers could make their own (a la figma) and you could run the default marketplace, too