6 ms·

Passion project? It is the sole source of his income.

by fridif 5y ago

hutzlibu 5y ago
It might be both.
Octopodes 5y ago
He's lucky enough for it to be both.
Yajirobe 5y ago
Lichess is Thibault's source of income, passion project, AND it is open-source.
- fridif 5y ago
  I suspect that Thibault is making money from it because he is actually deploying a web service, and the value there is coming from the network effects of its multiplayer user base. Even if I deployed his code tonight, there's no guarantee users would switch over to my LeeChess clone :) In the case of Dwarf Fortress it's just "download my exe and please donate if you like it!"
dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
I've been working on a project for a long time. It's not even yielding income, though I hope it will. A friend referred to it as a passion project. That hurt for some reason. I can't explain why.
- s5300 5y ago
  I think you're interpreting his meaning in saying that incorrectly. You're not an employee for somebody else (correct? It's your own project) - it's not a salaried or hourly position where somebody else is currently signing your paycheck. You obviously don't hate it (I hope? If so, not sure why you wouldn't have canned it yet) Thus, this is what most people would refer to as a passion project. You may have a different meaning of that term in your own mind, but I think, on average, most people would refer to what you're doing as such, and not to be malicious in doing so. I wouldn't let it hurt you, I'm sure that's likely not a friend's intention.
  - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
    Yeah for sure, he didn't mean anything by it. I try not to be super sensitive, that makes interacting with people impossible. But sometimes it's hard :).
    - biztos 5y ago
      I have a similar sensitivity around my primary vocation: I'm an artist with a day job, like many others, but since my day job is programming and I take it seriously, a lot of people think of my art as a "hobby." Which it very much is not. FWIW I have found that three things help me deal with this sensitivity: 1) Take it as motivation to be more outwardly "professional" about my art. Improve the website, be more active on social media, try harder to exhibit, even (ugh) sell things. 2) Remember that most people are just saying that out of ignorance: they don't have a mental model for anything outside of "work for the Man" or "mess around in free time." 3) Have examples ready if someone needs an explanation, and also as inspiration for yourself. For instance: was William Carlos Williams[0] a "hobby" poet? [0]: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-carlos-williams https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-carlos-willia...
      - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
        Yeah I just found out this year the William Carlos Williams was also, by the way, Chief of Pediatrics at Passaic General Hospital. What if people referred to his poetry as a hobby?
- fridif 5y ago
  Yeah I agree with this, I would feel hurt too. For some reason the word "passion" has this hidden connotation for me which makes me feel like the project isn't serious, isn't making money, isn't popular, and is just eating up all my time as it is something I constantly obsess over. In the case of Dwarf Fortress, I would say for him it is "the sole project he's been working on for 20 years now, which takes up $large_number of hours per week, and which has been sustaining his life now thanks to a fan base which have proven themselves reliable contributors of financial support. And he really enjoys writing the code too"
  - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
    > For some reason the word "passion" has this hidden connotation for me which makes me feel like the project isn't serious, isn't making money, isn't popular, and is just eating up all my time as it is something I constantly obsess over. This is spot on. If only you would articulate my feelings for me all the time, that would be great!
  - lupire 5y ago
    Why can't a passion be serious or popular?
    - b0rsuk 5y ago
      Because, increasingly, doing your job is a mind-numbing, passionless activity? Most people retire as soon as they have an opportunity, and if they don't it's because they need more money. Imagine a world where people often take pride in their jobs and keep working past retirement age because they enjoy it. Is that fantasy or science-fiction?
  - willis936 5y ago
    People do their best work when they care about it. I'd measure success in quality of work rather than monetization. I'll never be impressed by someone with a boat but the person meticulously building what they love will get a beer from me.
- b0rsuk 5y ago
  I once called Rust a 'hobby language' on #rust on freenode. It turns out it's the most offensive thing you can say to sirius cats.

Passion project? It is the sole source of his income.

by fridif 5y ago

Passion project? It is the sole source of his income.

hutzlibu 5y ago

It might be both.

Octopodes 5y ago

He's lucky enough for it to be both.

Yajirobe 5y ago

Lichess is Thibault's source of income, passion project, AND it is open-source.

fridif 5y ago
I suspect that Thibault is making money from it because he is actually deploying a web service, and the value there is coming from the network effects of its multiplayer user base. Even if I deployed his code tonight, there's no guarantee users would switch over to my LeeChess clone :) In the case of Dwarf Fortress it's just "download my exe and please donate if you like it!"

dmitryminkovsky 5y ago

I've been working on a project for a long time. It's not even yielding income, though I hope it will. A friend referred to it as a passion project. That hurt for some reason. I can't explain why.

s5300 5y ago
I think you're interpreting his meaning in saying that incorrectly. You're not an employee for somebody else (correct? It's your own project) - it's not a salaried or hourly position where somebody else is currently signing your paycheck. You obviously don't hate it (I hope? If so, not sure why you wouldn't have canned it yet) Thus, this is what most people would refer to as a passion project. You may have a different meaning of that term in your own mind, but I think, on average, most people would refer to what you're doing as such, and not to be malicious in doing so. I wouldn't let it hurt you, I'm sure that's likely not a friend's intention.
- dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
  Yeah for sure, he didn't mean anything by it. I try not to be super sensitive, that makes interacting with people impossible. But sometimes it's hard :).
  - biztos 5y ago
    I have a similar sensitivity around my primary vocation: I'm an artist with a day job, like many others, but since my day job is programming and I take it seriously, a lot of people think of my art as a "hobby." Which it very much is not. FWIW I have found that three things help me deal with this sensitivity: 1) Take it as motivation to be more outwardly "professional" about my art. Improve the website, be more active on social media, try harder to exhibit, even (ugh) sell things. 2) Remember that most people are just saying that out of ignorance: they don't have a mental model for anything outside of "work for the Man" or "mess around in free time." 3) Have examples ready if someone needs an explanation, and also as inspiration for yourself. For instance: was William Carlos Williams[0] a "hobby" poet? [0]: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-carlos-williams https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-carlos-willia...
    - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
      Yeah I just found out this year the William Carlos Williams was also, by the way, Chief of Pediatrics at Passaic General Hospital. What if people referred to his poetry as a hobby?
fridif 5y ago
Yeah I agree with this, I would feel hurt too. For some reason the word "passion" has this hidden connotation for me which makes me feel like the project isn't serious, isn't making money, isn't popular, and is just eating up all my time as it is something I constantly obsess over. In the case of Dwarf Fortress, I would say for him it is "the sole project he's been working on for 20 years now, which takes up $large_number of hours per week, and which has been sustaining his life now thanks to a fan base which have proven themselves reliable contributors of financial support. And he really enjoys writing the code too"
- dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
  > For some reason the word "passion" has this hidden connotation for me which makes me feel like the project isn't serious, isn't making money, isn't popular, and is just eating up all my time as it is something I constantly obsess over. This is spot on. If only you would articulate my feelings for me all the time, that would be great!
- lupire 5y ago
  Why can't a passion be serious or popular?
  - b0rsuk 5y ago
    Because, increasingly, doing your job is a mind-numbing, passionless activity? Most people retire as soon as they have an opportunity, and if they don't it's because they need more money. Imagine a world where people often take pride in their jobs and keep working past retirement age because they enjoy it. Is that fantasy or science-fiction?
- willis936 5y ago
  People do their best work when they care about it. I'd measure success in quality of work rather than monetization. I'll never be impressed by someone with a boat but the person meticulously building what they love will get a beer from me.
b0rsuk 5y ago
I once called Rust a 'hobby language' on #rust on freenode. It turns out it's the most offensive thing you can say to sirius cats.