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I am surprised that crowdfunding isn't a big deal in the open source world. It seems ideal: people pay to get software created or improved; nobody pays just to
by ScottBurson 12y ago
I am surprised that crowdfunding isn't a big deal in the open source world. It seems ideal: people pay to get software created or improved; nobody pays just to use it. No restrictive license is required. It seems possible that a developer doing stuff that is both difficult and very useful could raise substantial amounts of money.
Certainly there have been a few crowdfunded open source projects we have heard of, but the model hasn't taken off to nearly the extent I thought it would by now. Anyone care to speculate on why not?
- na85 12y agoSuccessful crowdfunding campaigns need to be sexy to reach that critical mass, and "pay me 20000 dollars to make systemd less shitty" is not sexy.
- zura 12y agoAlso, many (most?) people use open source software because of being free as in beer. Don't really care about freedom.
- mperham 12y ago1. Kickstart some project. 2. Ship v1.0 3. Collect $$$$ Now what? Who supports it? Who fixes bugs? The incentive is gone. Software is a process, not a physical product.
- ScottBurson 12y agoI totally agree. Everyone who works in software knows that the vast majority of the work, and the money, are in maintenance. I actually built a crowdfunding site that was primarily intended to support maintenance rather than initial development. Nobody used it, though, and I'm about to shut it down. You can take a look if you want: http://bountyoss.com/ http://bountyoss.com/