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The ^community^ here are people like you - those who also have to pay bills but contribute anyways, in whatever way they can by using the software and occasiona

The ^community^ here are people like you - those who also have to pay bills but contribute anyways, in whatever way they can by using the software and occasionally contributing code. While yes it would be great if a community could raise funds, that coordination job itself would have to become someone's not-paying-the-bills work. As much as I love Open source/Free/Libre software and am grateful it exists (and contributing to it, when possible), I've a long held belief that it is the pursuit of the privileged. You need to have the privilege of free time and then the privilege of being able to choose to spend that free time on something that doesn't improve your standard of living and then the privilege of being able to do it consistently.

throwaway89988 3y ago
Sadly I totally agree: Open Source is the playground of people who can afford it. I benefited a lot of Open Source in my career, life so I am very thankful for all contributors (and try to give back in money/time, when I can afford one or the other). What really annoys me, that my government does not mandate that software build with tax money must be Open Source. That would go a long way to fund Open Source and improve the quality.
- notyoutube 3y ago
  What government is that?
  - red_trumpet 3y ago
    I dunno, all of them? Which governments mandate open source software when calling for bids?
    - neoberg 3y ago
      Bulgaria does. https://git.egov.bg/explore/projects https://git.egov.bg/explore/projects
    - notyoutube 3y ago
      (I wasn't trying to make a point.) As far as I know, that's what the initiatives like PMPC¹ are for. I think in Switzerland, a law recently passed that seems to go in that direction² (Open Source should by default but some leniency as far as I can interpret the text). According to this³ OSOR report, something similar happened in Italy in 2019. So, I think we're slowly going in that direction in Europe. ¹: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/PMPC-Modernising-with-Free-Software.pdf https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/PMPC-Modernising-wi... ²: https://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil/documentation/communiques.msg-id-98828.html https://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil/documentation/communique... ³: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/OSS%20Country%20Intelligence%20Report_IT_0.pdf https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files...
    - germandiago 3y ago
      I do not think it should be mandated. But it should be promoted
coldtea 3y ago
>The ^community^ here are people like you - those who also have to pay bills but contribute anyways In principle, yes. In practice, most of the "community" is paid developers for companies like RedHat. So while they do have to pay the bills, they do so by those FOSS contributions.
- devnonymous 3y ago
  True. I recognize that my statement was a bit simplistic. That said, in the context of what the OP was saying, unfortunately, this is a chicken-and-egg situation. For someone, like the OP, who would like to get paid to do OSS, they'd need to have a reasonably active OSS presence prior to being hired at places like Red Hat. Which is another aspect of my original point of contributing to FLOSS being the pursuit of the privileged.

throwaway89988 3y ago

Sadly I totally agree: Open Source is the playground of people who can afford it. I benefited a lot of Open Source in my career, life so I am very thankful for all contributors (and try to give back in money/time, when I can afford one or the other). What really annoys me, that my government does not mandate that software build with tax money must be Open Source. That would go a long way to fund Open Source and improve the quality.

notyoutube 3y ago
What government is that?
- red_trumpet 3y ago
  I dunno, all of them? Which governments mandate open source software when calling for bids?
  - neoberg 3y ago
    Bulgaria does. https://git.egov.bg/explore/projects https://git.egov.bg/explore/projects
  - notyoutube 3y ago
    (I wasn't trying to make a point.) As far as I know, that's what the initiatives like PMPC¹ are for. I think in Switzerland, a law recently passed that seems to go in that direction² (Open Source should by default but some leniency as far as I can interpret the text). According to this³ OSOR report, something similar happened in Italy in 2019. So, I think we're slowly going in that direction in Europe. ¹: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/PMPC-Modernising-with-Free-Software.pdf https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/PMPC-Modernising-wi... ²: https://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil/documentation/communiques.msg-id-98828.html https://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil/documentation/communique... ³: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/OSS%20Country%20Intelligence%20Report_IT_0.pdf https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files...
  - germandiago 3y ago
    I do not think it should be mandated. But it should be promoted

coldtea 3y ago

>The ^community^ here are people like you - those who also have to pay bills but contribute anyways In principle, yes. In practice, most of the "community" is paid developers for companies like RedHat. So while they do have to pay the bills, they do so by those FOSS contributions.

devnonymous 3y ago
True. I recognize that my statement was a bit simplistic. That said, in the context of what the OP was saying, unfortunately, this is a chicken-and-egg situation. For someone, like the OP, who would like to get paid to do OSS, they'd need to have a reasonably active OSS presence prior to being hired at places like Red Hat. Which is another aspect of my original point of contributing to FLOSS being the pursuit of the privileged.