---
title: Copycopter Is Now Open Source
teaser:
tags: news,open source,copycopter
author: Dan Croak
published_on: 2012-03-16
---

One month ago, we informed [Copycopter](http://copycopter.com) customers that
we would be shutting the service down on April 15th and they would no longer be
charged.

This news triggered a domino effect across the internet. AOL followed up by
[shutting down Instant
Messenger](http://www.slashgear.com/aol-kills-instant-messenger-14218403/).
Milk then [shut down Oink](http://www.oink.com) and [users are
fretting](http://raganwald.posterous.com/dear-landlord) that Posterous will
shut down after its acquisition by Twitter.

![Copycopter logo](http://images.thoughtbot.com/ui/copycopter-post-image.jpg)

## Why are we shutting it down

Copycopter has worked beautifully for its purpose: editing live copy in Rails
app using the [I18n (internalization)
API](http://guides.rubyonrails.org/i18n.html).

However, as a business, we try to make money and Copycopter has not served that
purpose very well. So, we've been spending our time on other things.

## What is happening to Copycopter now

[It is open source](https://github.com/copycopter/copycopter-server)!

## Why are we open sourcing it

1. It's not really cool to run a service, then abruptly shut it down. We want
   to be awesome to our paying customers, many of whom still want to use the
   service.
1. Copycopter is fantastic if you're into Rails, translations, and not editing
   code and deploying every time copy changes.
1. Open source code is the bee's knees.

All the code has been moved over to the "copycopter" organization on GitHub.
There, you'll also find the [Ruby
client](https://github.com/copycopter/copycopter-ruby-client) and a tight
little [style guide](https://github.com/copycopter/style-guide).

## Who is maintaining it

The fine folks at [Crowdtap](http://crowdtap.com) and [Iora
Health](http://iorahealth.com), two very strong Rails teams in New York and
Boston, respectively.

They both use Copycopter for their own production apps.

## How do I set it up as a new user

[Follow these instructions](https://github.com/copycopter/copycopter-server).

Or, watch this instructional, holiday-themed screencast:

<iframe src="https://fast.wistia.com/embed/iframe/50838d7016?videoWidth=570&amp;videoHeight=351&amp;controlsVisibleOnLoad=true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="wistia_embed" width="570" height="351" id="wistia_embed"></iframe>

## How do I migrate my app from copycopter.com to open source

[Follow these instructions](https://gist.github.com/2048706).

## Thank you

Thank you to all of Copycopter's customers. We're sorry we can no longer run
the service but we'd be even sorrier if we gave you a half-assed effort.

We're thrilled to be able to give Copycopter new life as an open source project
and extremely grateful to the folks at Crowdtap and Iora Health for maintaining
it.

We know them well from working together in the past. You might even call us
friends.

Since open source is about people, you should get to know their handsome faces:

[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/089ae374809062394061df3762bdf33e "Brian Fitch")](https://github.com/bfitch)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6c0d3fa3161f1291357ddd923cb86520 "James McElhiney")](https://github.com/bitwelder)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/499d49e7a2244ddd0533b25f1d497d2b "Gus Mavromoustakos")](https://github.com/cmavromoustakos)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d4779f3551581ae2d474c62197872188 "Jonathon Storer")](https://github.com/jonstorer)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f2e75ff4aa41ef6da83eaf7988466620 "Kareem Kouddous")](https://github.com/kareemk)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/dcca95e5f8c0b97b930086b434027a90 "Michael D")](https://github.com/michaeldauria)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/718bd208935e684723eba028386f9a92 "Patrick Robertson")](https://github.com/patricksrobertson)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/415cb2c3ec7f5002aebf7498edafb7e2 "Quentin Decock")](https://github.com/quentindecock)
[![image](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/10831877bd394c902f1dda20524c86d6 "Mike Swift")](https://github.com/theycallmeswift)
[![John Norman](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9b4c0e92d862c88ded3744fc5f244bcf)](https://github.com/tuker)
[![Will Mernagh](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/82d6a7ca60d1f459acf2abe5e3edd09a)](https://github.com/wmernagh)

Get to the choppah!