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NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

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Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#21

Post by greatgib »

a2128 wrote: post #18
greatgib wrote: post #12

European "institutional" projects are always so brain fucked... If you look "how to apply they say": We've kept the application form short so as not to waste your time. They you see the form... https://nlnet.nl/propose/ ok, getting thousands of euros deserve a little bit of paperwork, but let's not call that form "short". But what triggered me is the following field of the form: Which model did you use? What did you…

I think the point of funding this stuff is not just to produce projects but also invest in the people building them, and to encourage a more resilient and open internet. So it seems entirely understandable if they'd want to prioritize funding people developing skills to understand and work with certain technologies, over funding people who will mainly send the money to some foreign AI giant for an AI that at any poin…

That's the point that is the worse for me to ask that "for writing the grant itself"...

I don't see why it ,would be rude. Only if the proposal is of bad quality!

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#22

Post by nairboon »

greatgib wrote: post #12

European "institutional" projects are always so brain fucked... If you look "how to apply they say": We've kept the application form short so as not to waste your time. They you see the form... https://nlnet.nl/propose/ ok, getting thousands of euros deserve a little bit of paperwork, but let's not call that form "short". But what triggered me is the following field of the form: Which model did you use? What did you…

These grants are for humans writing good old-fashioned free software. If you're looking for someone sponsoring llm-tokens, then NLnet is not the right place.

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#23

Post by menaerus »

Very low interest and investment in the AI-related projects. I wonder if it is because there has been no strong contenders or is it because it is not part of the strategy. In any case it looks a bit awkward because I am sure there's many people who are building stuff in that domain.

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#24

Post by benterix »

menaerus wrote: post #23

Very low interest and investment in the AI-related projects. I wonder if it is because there has been no strong contenders or is it because it is not part of the strategy. In any case it looks a bit awkward because I am sure there's many people who are building stuff in that domain.

Yeah LLMs/GenAI is the current hype but it's just a tiny fragment of the general landscape.

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#25

Post by rnijveld »

menaerus wrote: post #23

Very low interest and investment in the AI-related projects. I wonder if it is because there has been no strong contenders or is it because it is not part of the strategy. In any case it looks a bit awkward because I am sure there's many people who are building stuff in that domain.

I find this a very weird way of formulating this. Even if AI keeps its promises and is the future of computing (hopefully without destroying the environment), should it not be applauded that there are still organizations funding work in non-AI related technology? You can say many things about AI, but a lack of funding is not an issue at all I would say. Meanwhile all that other stuff still needs maintenance and development, or would you consider anything not focussed on AI wasted?

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#26

Post by csomar »

ggm wrote: post #17
csomar wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling the nlnet fund is bunch of nerds who have autonomy over the budget (ie: they are funding namecoin development). I don’t think they represent either the EU or Netherlands position when it comes to privacy.

Nothing I said was meant to imply they represented either the EU or the Netherlands as a government. I said they are interested in the space, and I was trying to say I thought it reflected on trends I see. That's all. That's why I said "interested in" and "thinking about" On reviewing who is on it, I know several members of the board. I would not call them "nerds" in the pejorative sense they're serious people with d…

> I would not call them "nerds" in the pejorative sense ... disparagingly ... but they are not only a "bunch of nerds"

Not sure what got you fired here? This is hacker news, not a lawyers' forum. Also, personally, it was just a hunch from their continued namecoin support. I didn't even check the profiles of the committee.

But back to re-explain my point, I think these individuals were acting on their own volition rather than a directive or planned strategy from the EU/NL.

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#27

Post by menaerus »

rnijveld wrote: post #25
menaerus wrote: post #23

Very low interest and investment in the AI-related projects. I wonder if it is because there has been no strong contenders or is it because it is not part of the strategy. In any case it looks a bit awkward because I am sure there's many people who are building stuff in that domain.

I find this a very weird way of formulating this. Even if AI keeps its promises and is the future of computing (hopefully without destroying the environment), should it not be applauded that there are still organizations funding work in non-AI related technology? You can say many things about AI, but a lack of funding is not an issue at all I would say. Meanwhile all that other stuff still needs maintenance and devel…

Lack of funding on the European ground, yes, I do see and NLNet seems to be yet another example of it. If my peers had the idea to develop some PoC, and they don't run the startup, how else would they get some pocket money to survive the year of development? All other funds are reserved for bigger and already established companies and/or organizations. And if there's one funding that the individual or few of them had a chance to get it is the NLNet. If there's more than NLNet then I'd like to hear about it.

Also, from the project list it reads as if they're anti-AI - only 3 "AI" projects selected out of 67. Considering the AI development trajectory through the course of couple of years, and especially in the last 1-2 years, it is highly likely that the largest output and innovation will exactly be in the AI domain in the next years to come. So IMO it seems like a lack of vision as I am pretty sure that there are strong individuals with great ideas but for which they lack financial support.

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#29

Post by em-bee »

csomar wrote: post #26
ggm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing I said was meant to imply they represented either the EU or the Netherlands as a government. I said they are interested in the space, and I was trying to say I thought it reflected on trends I see. That's all. That's why I said "interested in" and "thinking about" On reviewing who is on it, I know several members of the board. I would not call them "nerds" in the pejorative sense they're serious people with d…

> I would not call them "nerds" in the pejorative sense ... disparagingly ... but they are not only a "bunch of nerds" Not sure what got you fired here? This is hacker news, not a lawyers' forum. Also, personally, it was just a hunch from their continued namecoin support. I didn't even check the profiles of the committee. But back to re-explain my point, I think these individuals were acting on their own volition rat…

the funds are listed here: https://ngi.eu/opencalls/

i think nlnet is only the executor.

NGI is a European Commission initiative. that's pretty close to a EU strategy i think.

Re: NLnet announces funding for 67 more open-source projects

#30

Post by port11 »

menaerus wrote: post #27
rnijveld wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this a very weird way of formulating this. Even if AI keeps its promises and is the future of computing (hopefully without destroying the environment), should it not be applauded that there are still organizations funding work in non-AI related technology? You can say many things about AI, but a lack of funding is not an issue at all I would say. Meanwhile all that other stuff still needs maintenance and devel…

Lack of funding on the European ground, yes, I do see and NLNet seems to be yet another example of it. If my peers had the idea to develop some PoC, and they don't run the startup, how else would they get some pocket money to survive the year of development? All other funds are reserved for bigger and already established companies and/or organizations. And if there's one funding that the individual or few of them had…

Could it be that there’s simply less options in the open-source AI space compared to ALL of open-source?
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