Open-Source JS Form Builder With Full Data Control
from ges2347@lemmy.world to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 11:31
https://lemmy.world/post/44939192

Hi all,

I wanted to share this project that might be relevant here.

SurveyJS is a set of open-source JavaScript libraries for building forms and surveys. It’s not a hosted service - you integrate it into your own app (React/Angular/Vue) and keep all data on your own backend.

What it offers:

It’s more of a toolkit than a ready-to-use platform, but that also means you can fully self-host and customize everything.

Would love to hear if anyone here has built (or is building) their own form/survey systems - curious how you approached it.

Link: surveyjs.io GitHub: github.com/surveyjs

#selfhosted

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frongt@lemmy.zip on 30 Mar 11:34 next collapse

There’s no link to it

ges2347@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 11:36 collapse

added the link. thank you!

frongt@lemmy.zip on 30 Mar 11:50 collapse

So the builder isn’t actually open source, only the renderer?

ges2347@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 12:07 collapse

The form builder is open-source too, all libraries are: github.com/surveyjs You can try it out here without registration: surveyjs.io/create-free-survey (it’s a demo)

frongt@lemmy.zip on 30 Mar 12:59 collapse

Most of the repos, including the creator, dashboard, and analytics, are not under an open source license.

ges2347@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 17:37 collapse

Just to clarify, SurveyJS libraries are open-source in the sense that the full source code is publicly available and can be reviewed. Some components (like the Form Library) are released under the MIT license, while others (such as Creator, Dashboard, and PDF Generator) are distributed under a commercial license.

So it’s a mixed model: open-source with both permissive and proprietary licensing, depending on the component.

Also, my understanding is that this community focuses on self-hosted tools and software, which is what SurveyJS is, as it’s designed to be integrated and hosted within your own infrastructure.

Happy to clarify further if needed 🙂

frongt@lemmy.zip on 30 Mar 18:29 collapse

Okay, that’s not open source then. opensource.org/osd

henfredemars@infosec.pub on 30 Mar 12:19 next collapse

This is what I call junk open source. They use the open source label, but it’s not really open source in spirit. The license is restrictive and I’d recommend against using any such software in favor of something that’s actually, properly open source. If you’re bothering to self host, I feel like this freedom is important to most users.

Also, I think this is an advertisement and should be removed.

TomAwezome@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 13:29 next collapse

Yeah, the example repositories’ license files explicitly state:

Please note that the Survey Creator component is proprietary software and requires a developer license to be integrated and used in your own application.

If the Survey Creator component is the part everything else is using to make the magic happen, then it’s definitely not open source

[deleted] on 30 Mar 17:46 next collapse

.

ges2347@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 17:47 collapse

Just to clarify, SurveyJS uses a mixed licensing model. The core Form Library is MIT-licensed, while other components (like Survey Creator, Dashboard, and PDF Generator) are commercial. All source code is available to review and fork is needed. The team behind the project is transparent that not everything is released under a permissive license.

I appreciate this approach won’t suit everyone, particularly those looking for fully permissive or copyleft solutions across the entire stack, and that’s completely fair.

As for the post, the intention was to share a tool that aligns with self-hosting principles (no data lock-in, runs on your own backend), rather than to advertise.

Thsnks!

Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz on 30 Mar 13:30 collapse

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
LTS Long Term Support software version
LXC Linux Containers
NAS Network-Attached Storage
SSD Solid State Drive mass storage
VPN Virtual Private Network

5 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 9 acronyms.

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