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GitHub should charge everyone $1 more per month to fund open source

blog.greg.technology

11–20 of 352 posts

Re: GitHub should charge everyone $1 more per month to fund open source

#11
> it is not okay to consider that this labor fell from the sky and is a gift, and that the people/person behind are just doing it for their own enjoyments.

I am. I enjoy making things, and it's even better when others enjoy them. Just because you have expectations that you should be compensated for everything line of code you write; doesn't make it ubiquitous, nor should your expectations be considered the default.

I'd argue If you're creating and releasing open source with the expectations of compensation, you're doing it wrong. Equally, if you expect someone creating open source owes you anything, you're also part of the problem, (and part of why people feel they deserve compensation for something that used to be considered a gift).

All that said, you should take care of your people, if you can help others; especially when you depend on them. I think you should try. Or rather, I hope you would.

Re: GitHub should charge everyone $1 more per month to fund open source

#14

>it is not okay to consider that this labor fell from the sky and is a gift, and that the people/person behind are just doing it for their own enjoyments Yes it absolutely is. That is the exact social contract people 100% willingly enter by releasing something as Free and Open Source. They do give it as a gift, in exchange for maybe the tiny bit of niche recognition that comes with it, and often times out of simple g…

Agreed. Supporting open source maintainers is a great idea in general, but shaming people for using something according to the exact license terms it was released with is getting old.

Re: GitHub should charge everyone $1 more per month to fund open source

#15
You do not want to add profit incentives like this to FOSS.

Profit incentives like the one suggested is what brought us enshitification.

And the code is a free gift, unless the licence says otherwise. What's wrong with letting developers choose what to bill for?

Re: GitHub should charge everyone $1 more per month to fund open source

#17

> it is not okay to consider that this labor fell from the sky and is a gift, and that the people/person behind are just doing it for their own enjoyments. I am. I enjoy making things, and it's even better when others enjoy them. Just because you have expectations that you should be compensated for everything line of code you write; doesn't make it ubiquitous, nor should your expectations be considered the default. I…

Redistributing unwanted funds would be a good chore to have to do!
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