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FTA: > Did you sign I Love MDN? Great! Are you willing to pay 50-100 euros/dollars per year to keep MDN afloat? If not, this is all about making you feel bette
by Fnoord 6y ago
FTA:
> Did you sign I Love MDN? Great! Are you willing to pay 50-100 euros/dollars per year to keep MDN afloat? If not, this is all about making you feel better, not the technical writers. You’re part of the problem, not the solution.
Not everyone has that kind of money to spend on charity. I find the statement, quite frankly, condescending and ignorant. There are tons of countries in the world, consisting of web developers, who earn [far] less than an average SV wage. Sure, living expenses are also likely lower, but still.
- pjmlp 6y agoI have travelled across several of those countries, apparently people outside of software development still managed to get hold of their tools, paying in some way for them, without feeling entitled to be given everything as free beer and yet getting paid for their own work.
- Fnoord 6y ago> [...] still managed to get hold of their tools Well, that depends. Software [licenses] has different price in the world, adapted to the local market. Hardware as well, but the lowest margin on hardware is simply higher than software. Especially state of the art. So the amount of people running around with a new iPhone in Serbia or India is, percentage-wise, simply lower than in USA. Yet, yes, they all use a browser on their devices. And they all have a legal license. Many people in poorer countries also pay with a different currency: privacy and security. Think Android, think out-of-date devices (older Android and iPhone devices).
- pjmlp 6y agoLast time I checked a carpenter in Africa also doesn't pay the same as a carpenter in Europe for their saw set or the wood they need to produce the furniture, yet both buy them.
- Fnoord 6y agoWhich was exactly my original point: > FTA: > > Did you sign I Love MDN? Great! Are you willing to pay 50-100 euros/dollars per year to keep MDN afloat? If not, this is all about making you feel better, not the technical writers. You’re part of the problem, not the solution. > Not everyone has that kind of money to spend on charity. The argument assumes users of MDN have 50-100 EUR to burn on charities. It shouldn't attempt to convince the reader with a static amount. As if a web developer from Serbia who donates 20 EUR a year is somehow part of the problem. They're not. Perhaps, if such donations from poorer countries are not recognized as solving the problem, the problem is that the costs are too high as it is.
- coldtea 6y ago>I have travelled across several of those countries, apparently people outside of software development still managed to get hold of their tools You'd be surprised. Business owners or independent workers that need to own their tools, get into all kinds of debt to get them globally. In fact a classic example is the loans needed by independent seamstresses to buy sewing machines in the developing countries (and which few banks would give)...
- pjmlp 6y agoYes, and that is something that some software developers feel entitled not to do while expecting others to pay for their services.
- coldtea 6y agoWhich makes sense. Everybody should have the tools to do their work provided to them (for free), but their work paid.
- pjmlp 6y agoExcept that isn't what many in FOSS free beer movement do. Self employed carpenter buys their saw, self employed FOSS free beer developer downloads some stuff, never upstreams anything, gets paid and screams loudly to upstream when that stuff they got as free beer doesn't work.