Improving Tailscale via Apple’s open source (tailscale.dev)

Article summary

Tailscale improved its product by utilizing Apple's open source code, allowing for better performance and functionality. The company's use of open source code has sparked a discussion about the importance of transparency and open source software. Tailscale's decision to keep some of its code proprietary has been met with criticism from some users. The company has explained its reasoning for keeping certain parts of its code closed source, citing the complexity of its control server and the need to focus on supporting its own infrastructure.

Main themes

• open source software
• transparency
• security
• complexity
• infrastructure
• community support

What commenters say

• Some users believe that Tailscale should open source all of its code for transparency and security reasons, even if it's not easy to set up or run.
• Others argue that the company's decision to keep its control server closed source is reasonable, given its complexity and the need to support its own infrastructure.
• The importance of open source software for learning, debugging, and customizing is highlighted by several commenters.
• There is a debate about the hypocrisy of criticizing Tailscale for being closed source while using closed source operating systems like macOS or Windows.
• Some commenters suggest that open sourcing code can be beneficial for the community, even if it's not perfect or easy to use.
• The difficulty of maintaining and documenting a development environment is cited as a reason for not open sourcing certain parts of the code.
• The value of open source software for figuring out unusual or non-standard use cases is emphasized by several commenters.