> compensating those people should be the norm. Where is the payments side of github for example? [..] if you want a bug/feature addressed you could name a price or the dev can set the price on it?
Github does have monetization. It has "sponsors", and you can create a "sponsor" level that is basically "I will consult with you and prioritize bugs you choose".
It's totally normal for a developer who wants to monetize a popular open source project to offer consulting or "pay for me to work on your bug". That's already there.
... However, I would like to provide an alternative view. I am personally very happy that monetary compensation is not the norm in free software. I find joy in coding, but I find far more joy in coding when there's no money involved. When I am able to work as much or as little as I want, without feeling any form of financial obligation to others (which inescapably comes from being paid), I am happier.
If the norm was to pay or be paid in free software, I would not find joy in it. I would likely not participate.
By analogy, let's say that me and some friends get together to eat food, and each bring a meal. You might say "oh, that is a waste, the person who made a meatloaf could have sold that for money. Everyone at this meal should be paying each other for their cooking, and the person who cooked the most ends up making some money". Do you not see how that would ruin the feeling of cooking for your friends and enjoying time together?
To me, the free software community has a similar thing. Because the norm is assuming people are just trying to build stuff, not make money, it makes it a far more pleasant activity.
> And people rationalizing the all devouring machine, hell, it is just bonkers.
To me, the truly bonkers thing is people letting capitalism eat them. "You have to have your grindset, optimize your time to make money", it seems bonkers to me. People trying to rationalize their existence not by finding communities and trying to help others, but by trying to make their wealth as large as possible, often at the expense of happiness.
It should be default. They are nowhere to be found when you click on code, to get the clone url for example. It's still up to you whether you pay or slack, the code will be there, it's free, just it would weigh down on your conscience. It's a safety net and a way to say thanks to the devs.
There are a lot of people who do it, because they like what they do (esp in the beginning, while it's not a maintenance nightmare), but would also like to have some side income from it, but they are timid/shy to ask for it. So the burden should be on the service provider to provide these services and not on the developer. The dev can even opt out of it (like you) if he wants to, but I think that would be the very minority.
You pour your heart into a project, others use your project like it's a free service, but in the end nobody gives you nothing for it. All you get is stars and forks, and some stats. Wow, thank you for the exploitation of your naivety.
You can buy the favorite beer, coffee, hamburger from the money flowing in, and that's your tangible reward for your efforts.
Github does have monetization. It has "sponsors", and you can create a "sponsor" level that is basically "I will consult with you and prioritize bugs you choose".
It's totally normal for a developer who wants to monetize a popular open source project to offer consulting or "pay for me to work on your bug". That's already there.
... However, I would like to provide an alternative view. I am personally very happy that monetary compensation is not the norm in free software. I find joy in coding, but I find far more joy in coding when there's no money involved. When I am able to work as much or as little as I want, without feeling any form of financial obligation to others (which inescapably comes from being paid), I am happier.
If the norm was to pay or be paid in free software, I would not find joy in it. I would likely not participate.
By analogy, let's say that me and some friends get together to eat food, and each bring a meal. You might say "oh, that is a waste, the person who made a meatloaf could have sold that for money. Everyone at this meal should be paying each other for their cooking, and the person who cooked the most ends up making some money". Do you not see how that would ruin the feeling of cooking for your friends and enjoying time together?
To me, the free software community has a similar thing. Because the norm is assuming people are just trying to build stuff, not make money, it makes it a far more pleasant activity.
> And people rationalizing the all devouring machine, hell, it is just bonkers.
To me, the truly bonkers thing is people letting capitalism eat them. "You have to have your grindset, optimize your time to make money", it seems bonkers to me. People trying to rationalize their existence not by finding communities and trying to help others, but by trying to make their wealth as large as possible, often at the expense of happiness.