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> rrweb ($15,000), which is the basis for our Replay product Not to rain on the humble brag, but donating 15k to a project that serves as the basis for your co

> rrweb ($15,000), which is the basis for our Replay product Not to rain on the humble brag, but donating 15k to a project that serves as the basis for your commercial offering seems a bit cheap

londons_explore 3y ago
It's a lot more generous than the $0 that the license agreement said needed to be paid.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
mholt 3y ago
That is a generous donation that is not legally required of them. But I agree that a different approach should be taken for exceptionally crucial dependencies like rrweb is for Sentry. (Edit: to clarify, I think what Sentry is doing is good and we need more of it. I mean that businesses and developers should be mindful of what is being exchanged from their relationship, if any.) If your core business/product offering relies on a certain open source project, IMO you better take that under your wing to ensure it stays maintained and developed. For Caddy, we offer Enterprise-tier sponsorships to make this happen. Our Enterprise+ tier is designed so that it does not rely on ANY other funding so your company can be guaranteed the assurance of ongoing development even if all other sponsors drop off. To not do so is simply a big risk your business is taking. Either fund the project or hire in-house experts, which is likely more expensive and less effective. I'm not criticizing Sentry here --- I applaud their initiative, which is definitely in the right direction! Implementing this requires that the project offer such a sponsorship plan in the first place. One-time donations are simply not sustainable in the long term. Just something to think about.
- zeeg 3y ago
  Prior to this we directly funded rrweb, even when it wasn't a critical piece of Sentry's product. Not sure why everyone tries to turn things into something they're not.
  - mholt 3y ago
    That’s great to hear. I hope my tone wasn’t misunderstood. I think the initiative is wonderful. I was mainly commenting on the state of open source funding generally. IMO what Sentry is doing doesn’t deserve criticism. Keep doing what you’re doing!
renewiltord 3y ago
It's worth noting that they wouldn't get this reaction if they gave nothing. This is one factor in the Schelling Point for OSS donations to be zero.
- candiddevmike 3y ago
  They wouldn't get this reaction if they didn't publicize their donations as marketing content.
  - zeeg 3y ago
    What are you trying to achieve with complaining about a good cause? Our intent is to set a tone for this kind of thing. We are a well known company in the technology sector, so showcasing this creates a model for others to be inspired by. When decision makers at other companies see this, ones who might also care about this cause, it creates opportunities and materials for them to have these conversations within their own teams. Marketing is not inherently evil as you make it out to be.
  - the_mitsuhiko 3y ago
    Note that the donation run happened a while ago without announcement and comments like this made the rounds on Twitter almost immediately. So the “marketing” aspect I would argue is unrelated.
  - datenpunk 3y ago
    Hopefully, this should lead other companies to step up as well. Do you really think this is a problem?
  - renewiltord 3y ago
    Sure, they also wouldn't if they gave 100% of their revenue. But of all the points, the Schelling point is at 0 donation / 0 blog posts, and this is part of the reason.
  - mholt 3y ago
    We need more of this, so yes absolutely, publicize it. Start a movement. Set an example. Be a leader.
saagarjha 3y ago
How much should they have paid? How much would it cost them to get an alternative?
- whit537 3y ago
  > How much should they have paid? Curious in this. 15k is on par with what we give to foundations such as Python, Django, Rust and OpenJS. Is that the right anchor? Another angle: Which deps should we take money away from to give more to rrweb? [I'm the post author.]
rickette 3y ago
Cheap? Based on what metric? It's a significant donation if you ask me. Also remember Sentry isn't a FAANG.

> rrweb ($15,000), which is the basis for our Replay product Not to rain on the humble brag, but donating 15k to a project that serves as the basis for your commercial offering seems a bit cheap

londons_explore 3y ago

It's a lot more generous than the $0 that the license agreement said needed to be paid.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

mholt 3y ago

That is a generous donation that is not legally required of them. But I agree that a different approach should be taken for exceptionally crucial dependencies like rrweb is for Sentry. (Edit: to clarify, I think what Sentry is doing is good and we need more of it. I mean that businesses and developers should be mindful of what is being exchanged from their relationship, if any.) If your core business/product offering relies on a certain open source project, IMO you better take that under your wing to ensure it stays maintained and developed. For Caddy, we offer Enterprise-tier sponsorships to make this happen. Our Enterprise+ tier is designed so that it does not rely on ANY other funding so your company can be guaranteed the assurance of ongoing development even if all other sponsors drop off. To not do so is simply a big risk your business is taking. Either fund the project or hire in-house experts, which is likely more expensive and less effective. I'm not criticizing Sentry here --- I applaud their initiative, which is definitely in the right direction! Implementing this requires that the project offer such a sponsorship plan in the first place. One-time donations are simply not sustainable in the long term. Just something to think about.

zeeg 3y ago
Prior to this we directly funded rrweb, even when it wasn't a critical piece of Sentry's product. Not sure why everyone tries to turn things into something they're not.
- mholt 3y ago
  That’s great to hear. I hope my tone wasn’t misunderstood. I think the initiative is wonderful. I was mainly commenting on the state of open source funding generally. IMO what Sentry is doing doesn’t deserve criticism. Keep doing what you’re doing!

renewiltord 3y ago

It's worth noting that they wouldn't get this reaction if they gave nothing. This is one factor in the Schelling Point for OSS donations to be zero.

candiddevmike 3y ago
They wouldn't get this reaction if they didn't publicize their donations as marketing content.
- zeeg 3y ago
  What are you trying to achieve with complaining about a good cause? Our intent is to set a tone for this kind of thing. We are a well known company in the technology sector, so showcasing this creates a model for others to be inspired by. When decision makers at other companies see this, ones who might also care about this cause, it creates opportunities and materials for them to have these conversations within their own teams. Marketing is not inherently evil as you make it out to be.
- the_mitsuhiko 3y ago
  Note that the donation run happened a while ago without announcement and comments like this made the rounds on Twitter almost immediately. So the “marketing” aspect I would argue is unrelated.
- datenpunk 3y ago
  Hopefully, this should lead other companies to step up as well. Do you really think this is a problem?
- renewiltord 3y ago
  Sure, they also wouldn't if they gave 100% of their revenue. But of all the points, the Schelling point is at 0 donation / 0 blog posts, and this is part of the reason.
- mholt 3y ago
  We need more of this, so yes absolutely, publicize it. Start a movement. Set an example. Be a leader.

saagarjha 3y ago

How much should they have paid? How much would it cost them to get an alternative?

whit537 3y ago
> How much should they have paid? Curious in this. 15k is on par with what we give to foundations such as Python, Django, Rust and OpenJS. Is that the right anchor? Another angle: Which deps should we take money away from to give more to rrweb? [I'm the post author.]

rickette 3y ago

Cheap? Based on what metric? It's a significant donation if you ask me. Also remember Sentry isn't a FAANG.