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I maintain a moderately successful JavaScript library and there are a few things that absolutely make my day: people sending me an email telling me how they're

I maintain a moderately successful JavaScript library and there are a few things that absolutely make my day: people sending me an email telling me how they're using it (I see dependent projects on NPM but I love hearing about cool things!), people saying thanks, and people sending me any donation. I've had a handful of people send me a few bucks over the years and I was absolutely floored each time. In total I might be able to buy myself a beer with the donations but it means a surprisingly large amount knowing someone is willing to go through the hassle to send you money.

imiric 9y ago
In case you haven't heard it enough already, thank you for your open source contributions. More than helping fellow developers with your library, you help keep alive the spirit and philosophy of free sharing of knowledge and information. And in a world increasingly hostile to these ideas, your impact cannot be understated.
chiefalchemist 9y ago
Wouldn't it be great if GitHub and GitLab, etc. had donations baked in? Say you add a few bucks to your account and you can dole it out as you go. Receivers can keep it or pledge all or some % to some short list of non-profits. Something KISS can't be that difficult to do.
- Caligatio 9y ago
  I don't remember how I stumbled onto it but I ended up using Pledgie who then uses PayPal under the hood... it sucks. Pledgie takes some reasonable cut but then PayPal considers it a business transaction and takes like a flat $0.30. Remember when I said a few low dollar amount donations? I end up losing 20-30% due to PayPay/Pledgie overhead. I then tried adding a Bitcoin donation link in markdown in my README (before the transaction fees got silly) but the GitHub and NPM don't know what to do with it.
  - chiefalchemist 9y ago
    Yeah. Too many steps and too much financial overhead. On the other hand, if you could "deposit" say $25 to your account then the transaction fees only occur once. Moi? I'd be willing to pay that (as opposed to sticking GH or GL with it). A dollar here. Two bucks there. Couldn't hurt. Plus, the number of donations could be a public signal. Stars? They're like Likes (easy and free). Helpful but not as good as how many put their money where there mouse is.

imiric 9y ago

In case you haven't heard it enough already, thank you for your open source contributions. More than helping fellow developers with your library, you help keep alive the spirit and philosophy of free sharing of knowledge and information. And in a world increasingly hostile to these ideas, your impact cannot be understated.

chiefalchemist 9y ago

Wouldn't it be great if GitHub and GitLab, etc. had donations baked in? Say you add a few bucks to your account and you can dole it out as you go. Receivers can keep it or pledge all or some % to some short list of non-profits. Something KISS can't be that difficult to do.

Caligatio 9y ago
I don't remember how I stumbled onto it but I ended up using Pledgie who then uses PayPal under the hood... it sucks. Pledgie takes some reasonable cut but then PayPal considers it a business transaction and takes like a flat $0.30. Remember when I said a few low dollar amount donations? I end up losing 20-30% due to PayPay/Pledgie overhead. I then tried adding a Bitcoin donation link in markdown in my README (before the transaction fees got silly) but the GitHub and NPM don't know what to do with it.
- chiefalchemist 9y ago
  Yeah. Too many steps and too much financial overhead. On the other hand, if you could "deposit" say $25 to your account then the transaction fees only occur once. Moi? I'd be willing to pay that (as opposed to sticking GH or GL with it). A dollar here. Two bucks there. Couldn't hurt. Plus, the number of donations could be a public signal. Stars? They're like Likes (easy and free). Helpful but not as good as how many put their money where there mouse is.