1049 sats \ 12 replies \ @kepford 17 Nov 2023 \ on: The Lack of Compensation in Open Source Software is Unsustainable bitcoin
Been hearing this since I started in tech back in 2006. It is maddening to me how few open source projects even consider bitcoin as an option.
There is also this pattern of framing support as tipping or buying a cup of coffee when it should be framed as value for value. If you use this project and receive value you should return that value back to the project.
IMO bitcoin is the solution here. Lightning payments to OSS contributors similar to how the V4V splits work in podcasting 2.0. It might work using Nostr.
Imagine a site similar to SN for git. Basically, if Github adopted lighting zaps. If you could zap someone for their resolution of an issue. Or for a release? I'm not the first to speak this I know but it seems so obvious to me after using SN. SN is going to go down in history as one of the first demonstrations of how bitcoin fixes this.
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SN is going to go down in history as one of the first demonstrations of how bitcoin fixes this.
I'm as excited as I am terrified about this happening, lol
Maybe I should start building my citadel like @DarthCoin, lol
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He's not wrong...
We must pay somehow all these OSS software.
Donating to centers like TEN31 or Geyser or whatever other faucets that can manage better the funds, but somehow we would need a specialized flow.
Also zapping sats for each download we do or use, is not a bad solution.
We have to realize that this "free" for all we use is not going to be sustainable.
Being sovereign doesn't mean everything is free. Not at all! I could says that is the way around!
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I like that. I would definitely zap some sats to download open source software. But it depends, if you're downloading a package that contains hundreds of open source packages, it could increase massively.
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most of them already have Geyser donation campaign pages. Is quite easy to support them like that. But of course DYOR first and don't just throw with sats to dead projects or scams. Be aware of scams!
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Exactly. I really have an issue when you work for free and complain that no one is paying you. It isn't sustainable. I don't think it is feasible to expect fiat corporations to support OSS. Don't get me wrong, they should because it is in their interests but we need to come up with non-fiat based funding for software outside of bitcoin software. But, the devs gotta realize bitcoin is the answer.
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I could see in the future something like: release a limited version of the app for free and then release an advanced version for paid subscription or one time payment.
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There will be many models tried and probably entirely new things that weren't possible before. The question is, how long until devs stop listening to people that hate humanity and start looking to those who are trying to make it better. It really gets old listening to devs complain about money and yet have no interest in bitcoin.
Many will have to touch the stove and get screwed in order to learn.
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I like the V4V idea, but my guess is that it will never amount to anything substantial, because it violates @k00b's favorite kind of determinism.
If the incentives allow people to free-ride, they will. Free-riders, like the poor, you will always have with you.
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You will always have free-riders and I'm not suggesting V4V is the answer for everything. I guess I'm saying it isn't even being tried effectively. Think about it this way.
A single ad impression for Google or any ad supported platform is very small. Sometimes fractions of a penny. But at scale it is a huge amount. What I'm suggesting is that if we used bitcoin's layer two systems we could more effectively support open source. It isn't feasible to use the fiat layer twos for this. Nostr and SN are good examples of how micro payments can work.
You could also require people to pay to use the software using the same tech. Really, the only solution for burned out devs is for devs to set their own expectations and boundaries. There are probably more burned out dev blog posts than there are bitcoin obits. If you write OSS code and don't realize it can be thankless work then I don't know what to tell you. We have tools and people ready to help you monetize it.
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You will always have free-riders and I'm not suggesting V4V is the answer for everything. I guess I'm saying it isn't even being tried effectively.
That makes sense -- I agree that LN in particular makes entirely new ways of relating economically possible; SN is a case in point, as you mentioned. It will be cool to watch it unfold.
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Basically, when you have a revolutionary tool like bitcoin it flips the world. Support models that didn't work might work now. Ad models might work in new ways. Pay per use might work. Pay per download might work. There are other models we probably haven't even considered.
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