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For all it's good intentions, also be warned that paydevs is promoting "break the build" as a valid strategy. https://www.paydevs.com/pages/faq https://www.pay

by rubenv 4y ago

For all it's good intentions, also be warned that paydevs is promoting "break the build" as a valid strategy. https://www.paydevs.com/pages/faq https://www.paydevs.com/pages/faq I tried reasoning with the founder about how, as a build engineer, I find that highly disturbing, but they don't see any trouble with that. Wouldn't recommend, for that reason alone. Tidelift may be a better option here.

scrollaway 4y ago
Both Tidelift and Paydevs solve a pretty specific scenario. IMO, they are not useful unless you are writing a library, or similar type of open source project which is usually invisible (yet can still be critical). Most libraries rarely need the kind of maintenance work that justifies paying people full-time on them. It's often the case that a library is written and then done - future development may be maintenance type work (supporting newer versions of whatever), or increased coverage of the library's use cases. For all this, Tidelift and Paydevs are a good fit. But most projects that really need continuous chunks of money are going to be end user apps, adapters/sdks (i lied, those are libraries, but they're more visible and often against a moving target), web services, infra services, etc. For those, I recommend taking more ownership of the finance and setting up sponsorships via Open Collective (https://opencollective.com/ https://opencollective.com/) Source: I run my own open collectives, have corporate sponsorships through there, I've helped several OSS projects monetize, created my own successful open source startup, etc. If you're an open source maintainer and need advice on this, feel free to email me and AMA (see profile)
a_c 4y ago
I think software distribution is a lighthouse problem. Software distribution has close to zero marginal cost. Any cost imposed on zero marginal cost good will reduce the benefit provided by the good. If a developer wants to make software for better cause, open source is the way to go. But I have no solution to how to support the effort of developer. This is the challenge faced with journalism: free but rubbish articles yet with ads or paywalling everything. Both are not ideal IMO https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/econ335/out/lighthouse.pdf https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/econ335/out/lighthouse.pdf
deleted 4y ago
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by rubenv 4y ago

scrollaway 4y ago

Both Tidelift and Paydevs solve a pretty specific scenario. IMO, they are not useful unless you are writing a library, or similar type of open source project which is usually invisible (yet can still be critical). Most libraries rarely need the kind of maintenance work that justifies paying people full-time on them. It's often the case that a library is written and then done - future development may be maintenance type work (supporting newer versions of whatever), or increased coverage of the library's use cases. For all this, Tidelift and Paydevs are a good fit. But most projects that really need continuous chunks of money are going to be end user apps, adapters/sdks (i lied, those are libraries, but they're more visible and often against a moving target), web services, infra services, etc. For those, I recommend taking more ownership of the finance and setting up sponsorships via Open Collective (https://opencollective.com/ https://opencollective.com/) Source: I run my own open collectives, have corporate sponsorships through there, I've helped several OSS projects monetize, created my own successful open source startup, etc. If you're an open source maintainer and need advice on this, feel free to email me and AMA (see profile)

a_c 4y ago

I think software distribution is a lighthouse problem. Software distribution has close to zero marginal cost. Any cost imposed on zero marginal cost good will reduce the benefit provided by the good. If a developer wants to make software for better cause, open source is the way to go. But I have no solution to how to support the effort of developer. This is the challenge faced with journalism: free but rubbish articles yet with ads or paywalling everything. Both are not ideal IMO https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/econ335/out/lighthouse.pdf https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/econ335/out/lighthouse.pdf

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]