This new AI tool called Malus.sh is pretty wild, cloning open source software to sidestep ANY copyright. I bet this sort of thing will change EVERYTHING for web and native apps, not just open source code, and probably sooner than we think.
So, how do developers survive when the “product” can be cloned instantly?
I saw this exact same thing occur to the music industry and more slowly to the film industry, who thought they were in the business of selling shiny discs to consumers and got beat out in part by pirates (which was a body blow) but then later legitimately by streamers (Netflix, Spotify, AppleMusic) who understood this: You have to move from a product mindset to a service and relationship mindset to the end users.
Music. Movies. Now it is software developers turn in the barrel. And soon, not just OSS software developers.
In the digital space, and even more now in the AI incarnation of a digital space we are moving from a Functional Economy to a Relational Economy.
In this new landscape, the “moat” isn’t your features or your codebase. Those can be mirrored or cloned or pirated. The only true protection left is Community and Momentum.
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Relational Value: Users stay because they want to be part of the ecosystem, the brand, and the direct feedback loop with the creators.
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Innovation Velocity: Users trust the true developer to innovate and iterate faster than a clone can keep up.
The value of software is shifting from what it does to who is building it and who is using it beside you. The clone might have the same code, but it doesn’t have the soul, the support, or the future roadmap. Are you building a product that can be copied, or a community that can’t?
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/malus-clones-software-copyright