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A great article - and lines like this really resonate with me "More than project management skills or technical expertise, empathy is the most important skill i

A great article - and lines like this really resonate with me "More than project management skills or technical expertise, empathy is the most important skill in open source." However, the article doesn't address the most obvious question, how does Henry fund this activity?

jgilias 6y ago
Well, the article mentions his Patreon, as well as features a GitHub Sponsors button at the end of it.
- ColinEberhardt 6y ago
  True, both were mentioned in passing - but it would be good to hear about how sustainable this is? If an open source maintainer relies on GH sponsors, Patreon, Open Collective then they are going to have to invest time in marketing themselves to the community. It's an odd dynamic.
  - edoceo 6y ago
    Gotta have some hustle if you wanna get paid.
    - fsewe20 6y ago
      ..which is a real shame, as there are very talented people working on public goods who don't have that "hustle" and could do with the support. Open source / Free software has been valued over $400 billion, and supports our entire economy, funding developers shouldn't be a problem. Open source / Free software is a public goods issue, and we should be looking for the best ways to support them. Quadratic funding could be a useful mechanism for this: https://wtfisqf.com/ https://wtfisqf.com/
    - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
      Great if you're an extroverted narcissist, but that only represents (a small) part of the software development world.
  - christiansakai 6y ago
    Definitely not a sustainable model. I don't think open source will ever find a sustainable business model that can be applicable generally.
    - hyperpallium2 6y ago
      As public infrastructure, government funded? Lots of problems...
- deepstack 6y ago
  I personally think there ought to be better way to fund Anonymous developers like through Monroe or something similar. Patreon after the recent incident make me trust less and less centralised players. Seems like a power corrupt symptom
est31 6y ago
It's in the sub-header above the text: > I currently host two podcasts studio_microphone: Hope in Source and Maintainers Anonymous. This isn't very typical of open source creators, but for people who want to live off donations, it's a big help, because it helps building a fanbase of people, of which a subset then donates to you. Basically the same model as of a youtuber, who also creates content and uses patreon because youtube's unilateral and weird decisions to demonetize people or change their compensation on a whim. Furthermore, it really depends on which area you work in. It seems that in the js ecosystem, it's possible to live off donations, but the js ecosystem is gigantic, and many people make money building js stuff. IDK the people who can live off donations are an extremely tiny subset of all open source maintainers. For most people it's as unattainable as living from your proceedings of being a youtube star, and even then lots of people want to become youtube stars. That being said, for the 99%, being in open source is still beneficial, as it opens doors into the jobs world, helps building a portfolio as well as a network, both useful for getting a job.
christiansakai 6y ago
Donations.
hyperpallium2 6y ago
> ... over $3,000 in my Patreon account. Funding was—and still currently is—a problem
ganafagol 6y ago
Exactly, I was wondering the same. In fact, about half way in I started to fast forward to find where he gives details but I never found them. This is sad, as many others considering the leap would need this cruicial information. And just talking how greatly this decision connects him to people can't really compensate.. What was also missing was if he is a 1-man WFH show, or whether they are a team with an office. I don't know Babel really, maybe it's obvious to others. But it would provide context. I also wondered why NYC. If you are low on funds, or at least your economic base for your project is fragile, why choose such an expensive place to live? If you are WFH anyway (is he?) then some cheap place in the midwest would instantly multiply the buying power of the availabe funds. How to explain to donors that half of their donations go straight into the pockets of the landlord for an overprized tiny apartment?

jgilias 6y ago

Well, the article mentions his Patreon, as well as features a GitHub Sponsors button at the end of it.

ColinEberhardt 6y ago
True, both were mentioned in passing - but it would be good to hear about how sustainable this is? If an open source maintainer relies on GH sponsors, Patreon, Open Collective then they are going to have to invest time in marketing themselves to the community. It's an odd dynamic.
- edoceo 6y ago
  Gotta have some hustle if you wanna get paid.
  - fsewe20 6y ago
    ..which is a real shame, as there are very talented people working on public goods who don't have that "hustle" and could do with the support. Open source / Free software has been valued over $400 billion, and supports our entire economy, funding developers shouldn't be a problem. Open source / Free software is a public goods issue, and we should be looking for the best ways to support them. Quadratic funding could be a useful mechanism for this: https://wtfisqf.com/ https://wtfisqf.com/
  - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
    Great if you're an extroverted narcissist, but that only represents (a small) part of the software development world.
- christiansakai 6y ago
  Definitely not a sustainable model. I don't think open source will ever find a sustainable business model that can be applicable generally.
  - hyperpallium2 6y ago
    As public infrastructure, government funded? Lots of problems...
deepstack 6y ago
I personally think there ought to be better way to fund Anonymous developers like through Monroe or something similar. Patreon after the recent incident make me trust less and less centralised players. Seems like a power corrupt symptom

est31 6y ago

It's in the sub-header above the text: > I currently host two podcasts studio_microphone: Hope in Source and Maintainers Anonymous. This isn't very typical of open source creators, but for people who want to live off donations, it's a big help, because it helps building a fanbase of people, of which a subset then donates to you. Basically the same model as of a youtuber, who also creates content and uses patreon because youtube's unilateral and weird decisions to demonetize people or change their compensation on a whim. Furthermore, it really depends on which area you work in. It seems that in the js ecosystem, it's possible to live off donations, but the js ecosystem is gigantic, and many people make money building js stuff. IDK the people who can live off donations are an extremely tiny subset of all open source maintainers. For most people it's as unattainable as living from your proceedings of being a youtube star, and even then lots of people want to become youtube stars. That being said, for the 99%, being in open source is still beneficial, as it opens doors into the jobs world, helps building a portfolio as well as a network, both useful for getting a job.

christiansakai 6y ago

Donations.

hyperpallium2 6y ago

> ... over $3,000 in my Patreon account. Funding was—and still currently is—a problem

ganafagol 6y ago

Exactly, I was wondering the same. In fact, about half way in I started to fast forward to find where he gives details but I never found them. This is sad, as many others considering the leap would need this cruicial information. And just talking how greatly this decision connects him to people can't really compensate.. What was also missing was if he is a 1-man WFH show, or whether they are a team with an office. I don't know Babel really, maybe it's obvious to others. But it would provide context. I also wondered why NYC. If you are low on funds, or at least your economic base for your project is fragile, why choose such an expensive place to live? If you are WFH anyway (is he?) then some cheap place in the midwest would instantly multiply the buying power of the availabe funds. How to explain to donors that half of their donations go straight into the pockets of the landlord for an overprized tiny apartment?