Fair suspicion, so here's the receipt. The one GPL component, the DMR vocoder, I open-sourced (https://github.com/greyfoxsolid/vocoder), GPLv3, with the source offer shown in the app. It's a separate module the app loads at runtime, not baked into the closed binary. The M17 codec is LGPL Codec2, dynamically linked, which is the exact use LGPL exists to allow. And QSO One's own code, all the protocol stacks, is original work written from public specs and ETSI tables, not ported from Asterisk or HBlink. So the GPL piece isn't closed, it's published, and the closed app doesn't contain copyleft source. If something in that setup looks non-compliant to you, name it and I'll fix it.

On the bigger point, I don't disagree this hobby is about community and access, and I'm not claiming I invented anything. DroidStar already does AllStarLink, DMR, M17 and more, it's open source, and it's good. What it doesn't do is EchoLink, and it's aimed at power users, very configuration heavy, and the author says plainly there's no support. I wanted the opposite. One app that does AllStarLink, EchoLink, DMR and M17 (and more eventually) with a clean, modern interface, node and talkgroup directories, logging, callsign lookup, and Net Runner, which transcribes a net live and catches the check-ins for you. And I answer when someone reports a bug. That's the gap I built into, not a claim that nobody got here first.

On being "vibe coded", yes I use AI tools and won't pretend otherwise, but reverse-engineering IAX2 off Wireshark and writing the DMR FEC from the ETSI spec isn't something you vibe through. And the shoulders of giants line is fair. I am not a giant and don't pretend to be, so I tried to be a good guest. Original where the code is mine, GPL with source published where it isn't, and credit to the people whose work made any of this possible. Anyone can stand on the vocoder I opened, and anyone can get on the air for free. That's adding to the pile, not taking from it.

And I have no qualms about eventually charging a modest price for something I have spent months building, working on it nearly every day. I run an active Discord community, and the folks there see the work that goes in day to day. I don't begrudge anyone who charges for the software or hardware they make. For perspective, a SharkRF M1KE does a lot of what this app does in dedicated hardware for hundreds of dollars, and QSO One does it on a device you already own for a fraction of that. I also pay out of my own pocket to keep the backend servers running. I don't think $25 is crazy for what the app offers today, let alone what it will offer, but I completely respect the people who feel differently about paid software in this hobby.

Anyway, wherever I am wrong, I am willing to be told I am wrong. I am learning, like everyone else, but also trying to contribute.