I think the future of “sustainable” open source software is doing things the @TheLarkInn way.
AFAICT, Sean:
• Hustles to produce content about how great Webpack is
• Responds nicely to every hater on Twitter
• Reaches out to companies using it and asks for money
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Tons of developers would happily work full time on open source tools (obviously, they already kinda do for free). I think demand is there for them getting paid. People need to get out into the market and ask for money!
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I hope someday
@TheLarkInn starts a nonprofit where he trains others to evangelize important projects and pull together money to independently fund lead developers.Show this thread -
Why would others do what
@TheLarkInn did for Webpack? Well, I know lots of people who aren’t in tech but wanna get into it. More that are in it but want to get deeper. I think a lot of people would jump to help fund and evangelize blockchain software and learn more in the processShow this thread -
Right now funding mechanisms are 1. Big company (Shopify) built everything with some open source software (Rails). Now they’re huge and they need experts (hire
@sgrif) 2. Big company needs abstraction that isn’t there (FB) so they build it (React) How do small companies help?Show this thread -
Well, those models work well if the problem is worth funding in $120k+ chunks (roughly each dev’s salary). If you look at Webpack open collective, there are lots of recognizable companies chipping in a few grand each. What other important software falls in this funding gap?
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But I think one reason developers find open source exciting is that they want to program without having to do content marketing, brand management, and sales :)
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Yeah that is what I was getting at in the linked tweet. I’m basing this partially off of what I heard
@TheLarkInn talk about on@changelog. He thought Webpack was amazing, wanted to learn more, and in the meantime wanted to give back in any way he could.https://twitter.com/backus/status/971959549056901121 … -
ah, I didn't get that. I'm surprised that it was Webpack that figured out this model first, rather than some open-source project with more non-developer users who could help in this way
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Yeah I’m not sure why. Probably just random, but my guess would be: 1. A lot of people seemed to not understand/appreciate Webpack (hence blog posts) 2. A lot of people were negative about Webpack on Twitter 3. It is easy to tell if a company uses Webpack
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