So, I think the admins are doing a great job and wanted to donate, however it only seems to be possible to donate via Github (snowe’s account). Saying Microsoft isn’t my favorite company would be putting it lightly, so going through them to donate is… not happening.
Is there any other way to donate? I’d even do bitcoin or monero if so requested (crypto market is having meltdown right now, so it’s cheaper than usual 🤑 ).
If it’s any incentive, Github sponsors costs money to Microsoft. They pay for the processing fees, and Stripe is not that cheap for micropayments.
That’s for now. It’s how they are trying to undercut the market for donating to devs. Once they think they have the market, suddenly fees will pop up and they’ll start taking their cut.
That’s the cost of doing business.
Surely, but there is not forcing you to keep using them when they change the rules.
Problem is, until then, I’m supporting them. Maybe not monetarily but with presence. That’s the point. The more people use it, the more they become the defacto standard --> can’t donate to people unless you join Microsoft/Github aka the exact same thing that is happening right now, but worse.
Why do you think Amazon operated at a near loss for so long (maybe still do)? Dominance. “I hate Amazon, but they’re operating at a loss, so I’ll shop there and ‘hurt’ them”. 20 years later…
Money isn’t the only measure of progress.
I’d agree with you if MS was applying this specific business tactic to destroy an established business. But there isn’t at the moment, so I am okay with using that until the market becomes big enough to actually be attractive to potential competitors.
I am saying this as someone who was working on an open source payment gateway for crypto and a crowdfunding platform for content creators on the Fediverse: not enough people are willing to risk putting their money in an unproven platform just because they don’t like the big corporations.
I am okay with using that until the market becomes big enough to actually be attractive to potential competitors.
OpenCollective, Patreon, LiberaPay, BuyMeACoffee, and so on all exist for devs, hosters, and so on. That site admins like snowe are starting to opt for Github instead of those is, to me, a clear sign that Microsoft is right on the money.
not enough people are willing to risk putting their money in an unproven platform just because they don’t like the big corporations
I’ve said it too many times before: we are part of the problem. The majority wants change but isn’t willing to do squat for it. Just wait for someone to do something then say “but who are you anyway”, then turn around and give their money to an influencer because they’re on a big and “trustworthy” platform. It goes beyond tech. It’s everything. Climate change, voting, human rights, Nestlé,… everything.
Anyway, I’ve said my piece: no Microsoft for me. Fuck them.
So why are you supporting someone who uses GitHub at all? Why are you continuing to be part of the problem, as you put it? It doesn’t make any sense for a hardline position like this to come anywhere near an instance that’s got pro-GitHub admins. Hell, your mislabeled license comes from GitHub. Why are you not using something else untainted by Microsoft?
I don’t agree with parent, but I also think that we should stop judging people by association. It’s not just because someone uses closed software that automatically means they are as evil as the corporations that abuse their power to ensure their monopolies. It makes perfect sense to say “I want to support what you are doing but I do not want to show it in a way that enables some third-party that I do not like”.
I asked snowe if they were willing to create a Liberapay or OpenCollective account (back around Feb) as I also had the same thoughts
- I’ll ask them if they’ve got theirs ready as I still want to ensure that the instance is supported
If anyone’s interested in supporting me however I’ve got a Liberapay account set up🤗
I do wanna give you money on Liberapay but…
Cannot be renewed because the account of the recipient isn’t ready to receive new payments.
;)
If you’re unwilling to support a dev through the channels they want support through, why are you willing to consume their product? Is it okay because their code is only stored on GitHub but compiled and run elsewhere? How many levels of obfuscation do you need?