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Paying for Open Source Contributions

formidable.com

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Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#41

Post by nickpsecurity »

sktrdie wrote: post #17
kelset wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not sure where your data comes from. I literally linked a 150 pages book with both data and examples in my previous comment.

Ah damn I'm sorry. Can you tell me where this data is in the book? I quickly brushed through the 217 page book and there seems to be no data regarding my comment where I think open-source doesn't need economical incentives in order to work.

I prefer to share this article that came before the book since it's a quicker read:

https://medium.com/@nayafia/how-i-stumbled-upon-the-internet...

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#42

Post by kylecesmat »

bhousel wrote: post #40

As a professional full-time open source maintainer and developer, initiatives like this bother me a lot. The work we do is worth much more than $20/hr. Ideally I'd like to see open source developers in stable, tenured positions that pay fair salaries with benefits. Anything that normalizes the idea that open source should be funded on tips, patreons, or spare time goodwill is embarrassing to all of us. We can do bett…

Formidable employee here: To be quite honest we are compensated very fairly for our industry already and this program is not meant to ‘provide a living wage’ by any means.

Instead, this is a ‘fair nod’ at the work some of us feel compelled and motivated to do after work hours.

Not saying your perspective is wrong, just hopefully providing a bit more context about what this program means for someone who uses it.

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#43

Post by smusumeche »

nickjj wrote: post #27

I like the idea, but I'm concerned about the $20 / hour. Since this is done on the employees' own time (after hours), isn't this basically saying, "hey, go help make our app's dependencies better in an overtime scenario but we're going to pay you $20 / hour instead of 1x to 2x your usual salary"? I know at the bottom it clears that up but I dunno, it just feels weird to me. It seems like a concealed way to mainly ben…

Disclaimer: I work at Formidable. I have never used my Sauce time on anything related to Formidable open source or clients.

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#44

Post by Insanity »

jevakallio wrote: post #9
dudul wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, what's the monthly limit?

It's set at 30 hours a month. This is not for budget reasons, only to discourage excess working off-hours. This adds up to about a workday per week, which is what we feel is reasonable.

You could argue that it's people their own choice how much they work - which is true. But sometimes this can become determinental to their health. I'm onboard with this idea to be honest, it sounds good!

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#45

Post by bhousel »

jevakallio wrote: post #5
jaden wrote: post #3

I'm a fan of anything that helps open source, but in my experience it's more effective if the employee is able to work on open source projects as part of their job. Then again, maybe that's just my current evening burnout talking.

Author of the post here. Realistically, we can't pay people full engineering salaries to do random OSS. Our team can already contribute to OSS on their work time when it relates to their work, or our own projects, but for the personal interest/passion projects without direct benefit for us as a company, it doesn't scale. Doubly so when we have a pretty strict "no overtime" policy of working no more than 40 hours a we…

> Realistically, we can't pay people full engineering salaries to do random OSS.

Why can't you?

Professors get paid full professor salaries to do "random research".

Doctors get paid full doctor salaries to treat "random illnesses".

I expect if you looked a bit closer, you'll find that "Random OSS" is maintenance that makes the entire ecosystem possible. Would love to hear from some of your engineers what they are doing to earn that $20/hr.

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#46

Post by dbnotabb »

swalsh wrote: post #37

Out of curiousity, is there a site where people can put up some money for an open request on development? Like as opposed to hiring a contractor, and specifically developing the requirements, it would be more similar to a feature request with a bonus. Like specifically, my company has been yearning for a more complete solution to indexes on ORC files (there exists something, but the solution falls short for our speci…

I work for a company launching an Open source board where companies can post jobs for cash works-hub.com/issues

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#47

Post by smusumeche »

habnds wrote: post #33
nickjj wrote: post #27

I like the idea, but I'm concerned about the $20 / hour. Since this is done on the employees' own time (after hours), isn't this basically saying, "hey, go help make our app's dependencies better in an overtime scenario but we're going to pay you $20 / hour instead of 1x to 2x your usual salary"? I know at the bottom it clears that up but I dunno, it just feels weird to me. It seems like a concealed way to mainly ben…

agreed, additionally, there's an interesting behavioral phenomenon where people are perfectly willing to help strangers on the street when asked for free, but the willingness rate drops dramatically when someone offers them a small amount of money because it reframes the conversation. Once people see open source as a way to make money, it becomes a very different thought process.

A lot of us in this industry are very fortunate to have high salaries. At the risk of sounding crass, $20/hour is not much money to me. So this is really just a show of support. I'm going to donate the money anyway. (disclaimer: I work at Formidable)

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#48

Post by nickjj »

habnds wrote: post #33
nickjj wrote: post #27

I like the idea, but I'm concerned about the $20 / hour. Since this is done on the employees' own time (after hours), isn't this basically saying, "hey, go help make our app's dependencies better in an overtime scenario but we're going to pay you $20 / hour instead of 1x to 2x your usual salary"? I know at the bottom it clears that up but I dunno, it just feels weird to me. It seems like a concealed way to mainly ben…

agreed, additionally, there's an interesting behavioral phenomenon where people are perfectly willing to help strangers on the street when asked for free, but the willingness rate drops dramatically when someone offers them a small amount of money because it reframes the conversation. Once people see open source as a way to make money, it becomes a very different thought process.

Yep, that exact feeling is one of the things that provoked me to write the comment.

Then there's also the social aspect of it all. If you're working with a team of 10 people and 8 of them are contributing to projects that help the company because you're all on the same mission of "rainbows and unicorns are amazing, our company is the best" then there's a tremendous amount of social pressure to keep up with everyone else because otherwise everyone thinks you're not on the same page and you get outcast. Once that happens for a while, that's when you get burnt out and resent everyone you work with.

Re: Paying for Open Source Contributions

#50

Post by bobblywobbles »

If I'm paid for open source, I'm going to lose any motivation to work on it more. The reason why I contribute to open source projects is BECAUSE I want to contribute for free.

Put money in the deal and I'm no longer doing this work selflessly, but for self-interest instead.

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