Calcpad goes private again

[Proektsoftbg]

Dear friends,

Thank you for being with us so long. Exactly as we did last year, the development will go private again now and only sponsors and contributors will have access to source updates and the new features planned: #694

The open source project got very little success, much less than expected. Also my PhD is over with no future opportunities in this direction, so I am freezing it at this point for now. I takes me too much time now and I need to focus more on my main job and pay some bills here. If anyone feels that will need the new features and support, please consider sponsoring the project and you will get access to the private features (see sponsor tiers).

This pubic repo will remain fully accessible at the current state, but I will no longer maintain it personally. However, you may get help and support by other members. Calcpad recently got very fast, stable enough and feature rich to be used like that for a long time.

[javila]

"A man gotta do what a man gotta do..."

Good luck in your job, Ned! And thank you very much for all the hard work you put into this project. Calcpad is really amazing.

Take care, my friend!

(PS: I wish I was considered one of contributors...)

[Proektsoftbg]

Hi! Thank you! You are definitely considered as a valuable contributor.
Moreover, I rely mostly on your advanced knowledge and skills to help others when I am away.

[idealkindom]

Dear friends,

Thank you for being with us so long. Exactly as we did last year, the development will go private again now and only sponsors and contributors will have access to source updates and the new features planned: #487

The open source project got very little success, much less than expected. Also my PhD is over with no future opportunities in this direction, so I am freezing the development at this point. I takes me too much time now and I need to focus more on my main job and pay some bills here. If anyone feels that will need the new features and support, please consider sponsoring the project and you will get access to the private features (see sponsor tiers).

This pubic repo will remain fully accessible at the current state, but I will no longer maintain it personally. However, you may get help and support by other members. Calcpad recently got very fast, stable enough and feature rich to be used like that for a long time.

Whatever decisions made, support is there. Best wishes for all good dreams. Relax and enjoy what wanted..

[ExiMentor]

Dear Ned,

Thank you for the update and for all the effort you’ve put into Calcpad over the years.

I was honestly surprised to hear that you felt the project had little success. In my experience, it’s quite the opposite: I work with several large, globally operating companies where Calcpad has been successfully implemented and is used daily by many developers. From a user's perspective, you’ve built something truly impactful. Every seminar I give and with each new customer, I introduce the tool since it is super helpful if you need to document calculations in an exact and beautiful way.

I understand your reasons for moving to a private model, especially after finishing your PhD and focusing on your career. However, I must admit I find it a bit of a pity, as I am a big believer in the Open Source philosophy. It was really an advantage over other tools.

That being said, I still want to support your work, but I truly hope that there might be a way back to a more open model in the future once your situation stabilizes.

Thank you again for creating such a fast and stable tool. I wish you all the best for your professional path!

Steffen

[Proektsoftbg]

Thank you @ExiMentor for your feedback and your kind words. Honestly, I was not aware of the scale of Calcpad usage. Unlike commercial software, Calcpad does not track its users in any wa, so I do not have any statistics, just what I see in public space. But "free" software does not mean only "free of charge". It means "freedom" including the one to use the software without being tracked by corporations, so we must respect this.

Just to make the things clear, going private is temporary, like we did in 2025. In the same way, everything we develop in the next few months will be made available to public at the end. For me, this is the way to find the balance between the personal, professional and open source life and keep the project going for a long term. I wish I could work only on Calcpad because I really love it, but currently this is not possible.

[GiorgioBurbanelli89]

I agree thanks nedelcho but because closing linkedin, it was not necessary people can see your project just by seeing your examples, I could not continue supporting you on github but it is a wonderful example your work calcpad, linkedin is the door to more users supporting you in your project, greetings

[Proektsoftbg]

Hi! It is not closed, only suspended. I need a little break from social media to focus on my job.

[GiorgioBurbanelli89]

Good luck, Ned. When you get back, you can see the great progress I've made on CalcPad. I can now open MathcadPrime and Smath Studio files and reverse engineer them to create and open them from CalcPad. My open-source Mathcad with CalcPad expressions and user-defined expressions is almost ready. I'd like to suggest something when you get back: you should make it possible in template.html to choose the variable for the color of the users, as well as values, etc. That will give it a very interesting structure. Put a button in calcpad xaml. Best regards and good luck.

[finickyFalcon5]

What's the advantage of making Calcpad private?
If you don't have time to work on the project, why not open it up for others to develop? Or just update it whenever you get a chance and let everyone use the updated version.
It's unfortunate that Calcpad is not as popular (yet) as it should be, but in my opinion, making it private is not going to help with adoption.

[Proektsoftbg]

Hi! Calcpad is opened for contribution and both sponsors and contributors have access to the private resources. Finally, everyone will get the updated version when ready and safe for work. But it takes a lot of time and efforts. The key is that if you want to get these features sooner you have to sponsor a bit more or contribute to the project. We already tried this and it proved to work very well for Calcpad.

If you follow back the history, you will see that it is not something new that was just decided now. This is how the project works successfully for a year and many people have joined already. Together, we established wishlist and a roadmap that we are following now. Vectors and matrices in Calcpad were developed in 2025 in this way and was made public after that. So, we are going further with the next steps for 2026. This is not something that can be reconsidered at this stage. In all cases, not without the people that are already involved and supported it.

[imartincei]

Enjoy your break, Ned! I will keep busy on the private repo so development will continue even in your temporary absence :)