5 ms·

My idea for paying for open source code would be to auto-scan your codebase, find all open source projects, let you set a donation amount ($5, $10, $100, $1000)

My idea for paying for open source code would be to auto-scan your codebase, find all open source projects, let you set a donation amount ($5, $10, $100, $1000) per month, and it would auto-donate to every project. Then give you a nice tax writeoff summary for the non-profits. Obviously many details to work out, but I could see a company willing to pay $500 per month if it was easy to donate to all the tools and projects they use.

ISL 9y ago
Debian's popcon software can do at least part of this.
travisjungroth 9y ago
I wrote an app that had a similar idea based on GitHub stars. It was a crummy MVP. I gave out $1 to 100 different open source authors. Not one of them passed it along and made a donation to someone else. That was disappointing, really.
- fapjacks 9y ago
  Why was that disappointing? A dollar is really nothing to even think about. If some random person trying to start a service sends me a dollar based on my busy open source contributions, and then (hints? asks? requests?) that I sign up for their service and then forward it to some other person, I would ignore it. I'm guessing this was the big idea? Now, a hundred dollars...
- skinnymuch 9y ago
  But a dollar isn't enough. Can't expect people to take time out to try something out for a dollar. Maybe should've done 100 dollars for 10 different open source authors. See how that goes.
olalonde 9y ago
The problem with this approach is that trivial libraries (e.g. https://github.com/visionmedia/debug https://github.com/visionmedia/debug) that are widely used would get a disproportionate amount of donations.
- freeone3000 9y ago
  That doesn't sound like a problem. If it's so widely-used, is it really trivial?
  - unholiness 9y ago
    I mean... yes. Some libraries would be easily replaced if they didn't exist. Others took substantial effort and deliver substantial value.
- seibelj 9y ago
  That would be part of the "details" that need to be worked out, to prevent this and other issues.

ISL 9y ago

Debian's popcon software can do at least part of this.

travisjungroth 9y ago

I wrote an app that had a similar idea based on GitHub stars. It was a crummy MVP. I gave out $1 to 100 different open source authors. Not one of them passed it along and made a donation to someone else. That was disappointing, really.

fapjacks 9y ago
Why was that disappointing? A dollar is really nothing to even think about. If some random person trying to start a service sends me a dollar based on my busy open source contributions, and then (hints? asks? requests?) that I sign up for their service and then forward it to some other person, I would ignore it. I'm guessing this was the big idea? Now, a hundred dollars...
skinnymuch 9y ago
But a dollar isn't enough. Can't expect people to take time out to try something out for a dollar. Maybe should've done 100 dollars for 10 different open source authors. See how that goes.

olalonde 9y ago

The problem with this approach is that trivial libraries (e.g. https://github.com/visionmedia/debug https://github.com/visionmedia/debug) that are widely used would get a disproportionate amount of donations.

freeone3000 9y ago
That doesn't sound like a problem. If it's so widely-used, is it really trivial?
- unholiness 9y ago
  I mean... yes. Some libraries would be easily replaced if they didn't exist. Others took substantial effort and deliver substantial value.
seibelj 9y ago
That would be part of the "details" that need to be worked out, to prevent this and other issues.