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They are probably trying to build influence. Why is a startup that is burning cash donating money?

jedberg 9mo ago
Of course they are. These donations usually come out of the marketing budget. And it's working, we're talking about them. But also they rely heavily on Python and want to support the ecosystem.
nedbat 9mo ago
Is it so hard to imagine that they do it because the PSF's work is important and they want to support them? All the AI labs depend hugely on the Python ecosystem and infrastructure. Startups burning cash spend on many things that are important to them.
red2awn 9mo ago
They are heavily focused on code. Claude Code likely generates 100 of millions lines of Python a day, make the language a little bit better with $1.5M is extremely high leverage.
- johnisgood 9mo ago
  Care to elaborate on how $1.5M makes Python better?
  - adeelk93 9mo ago
    You’re asking how money can be used to improve software?
    - johnisgood 9mo ago
      Yes, because lots of these comments seem to imply that more money necessarily makes it better, which is often not the case.
  - skeledrew 9mo ago
    The donation is earmarked for security concerns, ie. improving PyPI from a security perspective to prevent/mitigate supply chain attacks, etc. This means a more healthy Python ecosystem, which also benefits their products which are utilizing said ecosystem likely more than any other.
- rented_mule 9mo ago
  And if this money improves PyPI security (part of the focus), that reduces the chance of Claude Code adding malicious packages to a code base (a well publicized case of this could be a big PR headache for Anthropic). This donation is likely much better leverage than trying to somehow add mitigation at the Claude Code level.
amykhar 9mo ago
Businesses should definitely support the open source projects that they use. I'm still astounded that professional developers seem so adverse to paying for the tools and libraries that they use to make their own money.
nikcub 9mo ago
really find a negative in it ey - what type of donation and from who would be acceptable to you to fund the python foundation?
- returnInfinity 9mo ago
  This is a step to take control and move in a direction that will profit them greatly. May or may not benefit the community.

Of course they are. These donations usually come out of the marketing budget. And it's working, we're talking about them. But also they rely heavily on Python and want to support the ecosystem.

nedbat 9mo ago

Is it so hard to imagine that they do it because the PSF's work is important and they want to support them? All the AI labs depend hugely on the Python ecosystem and infrastructure. Startups burning cash spend on many things that are important to them.

red2awn 9mo ago

They are heavily focused on code. Claude Code likely generates 100 of millions lines of Python a day, make the language a little bit better with $1.5M is extremely high leverage.

johnisgood 9mo ago
Care to elaborate on how $1.5M makes Python better?
- adeelk93 9mo ago
  You’re asking how money can be used to improve software?
  - johnisgood 9mo ago
    Yes, because lots of these comments seem to imply that more money necessarily makes it better, which is often not the case.
- skeledrew 9mo ago
  The donation is earmarked for security concerns, ie. improving PyPI from a security perspective to prevent/mitigate supply chain attacks, etc. This means a more healthy Python ecosystem, which also benefits their products which are utilizing said ecosystem likely more than any other.
rented_mule 9mo ago
And if this money improves PyPI security (part of the focus), that reduces the chance of Claude Code adding malicious packages to a code base (a well publicized case of this could be a big PR headache for Anthropic). This donation is likely much better leverage than trying to somehow add mitigation at the Claude Code level.

amykhar 9mo ago

Businesses should definitely support the open source projects that they use. I'm still astounded that professional developers seem so adverse to paying for the tools and libraries that they use to make their own money.

nikcub 9mo ago

really find a negative in it ey - what type of donation and from who would be acceptable to you to fund the python foundation?

returnInfinity 9mo ago
This is a step to take control and move in a direction that will profit them greatly. May or may not benefit the community.