Yes, agreed, I am pressing on it from "weird angles" but they are of use to me - this is how I evaluate new things. The open/closed nature of the code and the feasibility of self-hosting are among the most important aspects I consider.

I've just never understood the "It'll be open-sourced eventually" mentality.... Build in the open from day one, ignore the audience - you are already well practiced at taking a lot of shit and letting it roll off.

Honestly it always felt suspicious to me. If you know you're going to open source something eventually, why not do it sooner and let the same parties who will be interested next year take a look today?

The only reasons I can think of to not do so are: Shame/embarrassment of initial work; worry that someone else will build the same thing; no actual intention of opening it up. Maybe there are other motivations but I can't think of them.