All dependencies carry risk. Open source projects are abandoned all the time. What do you intend to take over maintenance of your database software if it is abandoned? Highly unlikely.
Agreed, and it is often tough to evaluate to any exact degree or measurement.
However, uniquely irreplaceable closed-source dependencies seem classifiable as carrying comparatively greater risk than thriving open source projects. This specific case is compounded because there are few (if any?) production-quality alternatives that offer what Datomic does, whether closed or open.
> What do you intend to take over maintenance of your database software if it is abandoned?
I would phrase this as "Can I hire a domain expert to fix blocking bugs in my database software if it is abandoned?", but this doesn't really account for the uniqueness of Datomic (unnecessary to really consider further since any fix is impossible due to being closed source).
It boils down to "is my business even possible if this disappears" evalutation considering Datomic a novelty that enables and/or dramatically simplifies very specific use cases (profitable even in the short term) that basically wouldn't be possible without it -- and I believe Datomic does this! The best marketing for Datomic would reveal these use cases, but they are often a competive advantage.
> What do you intend to take over maintenance of your database software if it is abandoned?
Yeah. Unlikely I'd be adding any additional real features or anything but why not? It isn't magic. I'd also expect a lot of other people doing the same and we can share the maintenance load.
There is also a lot of functionality that is obviously backed by very nice code a lot of people would like to see and potentially use other places. But knowing you can do necessary maintenance and tweaks, even if it is while you rewrite your whole db layer to work with another product rather than a permanent thing, is a serious benefit.
