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> Unless I was flush with cash, I probably wouldn't donate from company funds if I were an entrepreneur. I am a solo entrepreneur with a self-funded business a
by jwr 5y ago
> Unless I was flush with cash, I probably wouldn't donate from company funds if I were an entrepreneur.
I am a solo entrepreneur with a self-funded business and I set aside a percentage of revenue to be paid in developer sponsorships, through Github sponsors, Clojurists Together, and directly. I sort the libraries that my code uses by "indispensability" and fund the top 8 or so. It's not much, but if everybody did this, the ecosystem would be healthy.
I'm happy to see that at least the Clojure community is very mature and this approach is rather common.
It is in my best interest and it does make sense: I rely on those libraries, I want them to be maintained. And if they get abandoned, I will bear the very significant cost of rewrites.
- bengale 5y agoThe problem is if you're competing with someone else, all things being equal, that invests the money you give away they now have a better shot at beating you. From a purely selfish perspective it's better to allow people like you to fund it while everyone else gets it for free. Bear in mind I do agree with you, it would be better if we supported these libraries properly. But it seems like the majority are willing to allow a few to carry them. It makes the idea of running these projects on sponsorships seem unsustainable.
- jwr 5y agoFirst, this isn't a zero-sum game. And second, seriously? I should worry that my competitors will be meaningfully boosted ahead (to the point of having a better shot a beating me) by me supporting a bunch of libraries that I use? The world would be so much better if we all just did the right thing. It really isn't difficult to know what the right thing is at any given moment.
- sokoloff 5y agoI agree in general with your comment, but even in your example, is donating to exactly the top 8 clearly the right thing? Why not 5, or 13, or numbers 6-15 (figuring that 1-5 are adequately funded by others)?
- jwr 5y agoHow many do you donate to? I give what I can, because contributing any amount to any libs is better than just talking and contributing zero.