Why is Oson Studio free?

For your information: right now, as you read these lines, more than 27,000 people are using the site. And the number of monthly visitors has passed 290,000. The most interesting part is that these numbers are still growing.

One of the questions I have been asked most often lately is: “Why is the project free?” Many asked simply out of curiosity. Others out of suspicion.

When I approached some government organisations to promote the project, I heard the same question again and again:

To be honest, sometimes it was hard to answer these questions. Because we have grown used to measuring everything with money. If something is free, we are sure to think that something is hidden behind it. Perhaps they were doubtful. I do not know. Some helped, and some did not.

But today I want to answer this question a little differently, in more detail. Because perhaps what I am writing will be at least a little useful in someone’s life.

Two sentences that made me think

I read regularly. From the books I have read, from the conversations I have heard and from what I have seen in life, there are certain sentences that completely change the way a person thinks. Two of the ones that made me think the most are these:

“Deeds are judged by intentions.”

“When a person dies, their deeds come to an end. Only three things keep bringing them reward: an ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, and a righteous child who prays for them.”

I have thought a great deal about these two sentences. Because a person does so many things in life.

But one day... One day a person leaves this world. And then a question arises on its own: “What will remain after me?”

This question made me think a lot. There is always a voice inside that gives me no peace, saying I must do something useful. But for a long time I did not understand what that useful thing should be. How can you bring benefit to people? How can a person’s work keep living even after they are gone? How can an ordinary person bring at least a little benefit to the lives of thousands? I did not know the exact answers to these questions.

A friend’s app

One day, one of my close friends learned to code and published an app on the Play Market. A simple app. But inside it were things useful to people. Over time, that app was downloaded more than 100,000 times in total.

Can you imagine? One person, using their own knowledge, made something. And then thousands of people use it. And it brings at least a little benefit to their lives. I envied this greatly. Back then a thought arose within me: “Could I too make something useful for people?”

That thought lived in me for a long time. Sometimes I forgot it. Sometimes I was busy with other things. Sometimes the worries of life took over. But that question never disappeared completely.

Silence and one realisation

To find new ideas, I have always loved going to quiet places. Sometimes, standing among people, a person cannot hear themselves. The surroundings are too noisy. Someone says something. Someone gives some advice. The internet says one thing. The people around say another. In the end, a person stops hearing the voice inside them. That is why sometimes you need to be alone.

One day, for some reason, I felt like going to a cemetery. Since I was far from home, I knew only one cemetery. It was the cemetery where Sheikh Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf rests. That is where I went.

As I walked among the graves, I witnessed one thing again and again. People came to the grave of the Sheikh. They prayed. Then others came. And prayer again. And people again. That place had a stillness all its own. At first glance an ordinary cemetery. But inside a person, different kinds of thoughts awaken.

Sheikh Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf has more than 100 books. People still read their books today. They benefit from their knowledge. They remember them. They pray for them. There, I thought again about the saying I mentioned above:

“When a person dies, their deeds come to an end. Only three things keep bringing them reward...”

And then it was as if I understood something. A person’s life may end. But the benefit they brought may not end. The person themselves leaves this world. But the knowledge they left behind keeps living with people. Someone may read a book they wrote 10 years later. And after 50 years someone may still benefit from it. And after 100 years a single sentence they wrote may change someone’s life. In my view, there is no greater happiness than this for a person.

The path of sharing knowledge

Of the three things mentioned, the one closest to me was sharing knowledge. I am not a teacher. Nor am I a scholar. But today I understand one thing very well: to share knowledge, you do not necessarily have to write a book.

• If you build a program that makes someone’s work easier, that is benefit.
• If someone learns a new profession through a platform you created, that is benefit.
• If a person gains, through your site, knowledge that changes their life, that is benefit.
• If what you created saves someone’s time, that is benefit too.
• If a young boy or girl discovers, through your project, an ability they did not know they had, that is benefit too.

That is why Oson Studio is not just a project to me. It is one of the answers to a question that lived in me for a long time. That question: “How can I bring benefit to people?” And Oson Studio is the answer I have been able to give to that question so far.

Free, but not easy

Of course, if a project is free, it does not mean that running it is free.

Sometimes I have to work through the night without sleep. Sometimes creating a single feature takes several days, even weeks. Sometimes nothing works properly. And sometimes the thought comes: “Maybe I should give it all up?” Because building something is easy. Continuing it is another matter.

Running a project used by thousands of people is a great responsibility. Because even if you do not work one day, the users are waiting. Even if you are not in the mood, the system has to work. Even if you are tired, someone is waiting for help.

But then you look at the statistics. Hundreds of thousands of visits a month. Tens of thousands of users. Someone is learning something for the first time. Someone is picking up a new skill. Someone is finding the knowledge they need. And then you want to keep going again.

“What do you gain from this?”

Many people ask me: “What do you gain from this?” To be honest, it is hard to give a single answer to that question. Because behind every thing a person does there are different reasons.

Of course, I want the project in the future to reach a level where it covers its own costs. Of course, I want Oson Studio to grow even bigger. Of course, I want to carry out even larger projects with a strong team. But the main reason the project is free is this: I want as many people as possible to be able to use it.

Because I do not want knowledge to become something out of reach for someone because of money. I know that today there are very many young people in Uzbekistan who want to develop themselves. But not everyone has the same opportunities.

If, through Oson Studio, we can help even one such person, then in my view this project is worth keeping alive.

This is not only mine

If more than 27,000 people use Oson Studio today, that is not only my work. There is also the contribution of the people who told their friends about the project. There is the contribution of those who shared it on social media. There is the contribution of the users who wrote in about its shortcomings. There is the contribution of those who supported it. And of those who criticised it, too.

Because sometimes what moves a person forward is not praise, but criticism itself. That is why today I cannot say that Oson Studio is only mine. It is the project of everyone who used it and contributed to its development.

One intention

I do not know how big Oson Studio will become in the future. Perhaps there will be 100,000 users. Perhaps a million. Perhaps one day people stronger than me will continue this project. Perhaps the project will take a completely different form. Time will tell. But I have one intention.

Someday, when I leave this world, if because of Oson Studio the life of even one person has changed for the better, I will think that my efforts were not in vain.

For me, that is a great result.

To my parents

I want to say one more thing. If the work I am doing now is bringing benefit to someone’s life, if these deeds carry reward, then all of that reward I dedicate to my parents.

Because in everything I have achieved to this day, there is their share. If I learned to build something, the reason is them. If today I am trying to do something, the reason is their prayers. No matter how great a person becomes, before their parents they still remain a child.

That is why I want my parents to have a share in any good that comes through Oson Studio. If a person benefits from this project and also prays for my parents, there is probably no greater happiness than that.

The goal does not change

The goal does not change. To bring benefit to people. Because one day a person leaves.

But the benefit you left in people’s lives is perhaps the most precious legacy. If today, through Oson Studio, we can bring even a little benefit to someone’s life, then we must keep going.

27,000 is not the end yet. And 290,000 visits are not the end either. This is only the beginning. Perhaps one day we will read this article again and remember these days. But I want our intention then to remain the same as today. That is, to be useful.

Because sometimes a person cannot change the world. But they can change one person’s life. And sometimes changing one person’s life is the changing of an entire world. That is one of the biggest reasons for creating Oson Studio.

Any help given serves to develop Oson Studio further, to create new possibilities and to bring benefit to more people. Thank you all in advance.

Perhaps we cannot do great things alone. But if each of us does one small good deed, together we can become the reason for great change. Thank you to every person who has been by our side in developing Oson Studio, who uses it, shares their opinion, criticises, shares it and supports it.

This is only the beginning.Oson Studio