Ask HN: I have a job; should I still go on Patreon for free open-source stuff?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15935849

by chinchang • 9 years ago

31 18 9 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am getting paid by a fulltime job. I have some free open-source stuff I do in my spare time that is used by tens of thousands of people. Should I still go on Patreon?

james-skemp2• 9 years ago

Sure, why not?

I'm a patron of a number of people who have full-time jobs and do what I know them for on the side.

Another option is librepay too. Check the recent Patreon thread for alternatives and comments.

Why do you think you can't or shouldn't?

chinchang3• 9 years ago

I ask this because generally people going on Patreon for open-source reason that they have been doing open-source for free and sustaining out of their last job savings. And now they won't be able to go much far on those savings, hence Patreon.

nickh9000• 9 years ago

Yes, why not.

minimaxir• 9 years ago

The only thing potentially unethical about running a Patreon is aggressively publicizing it, particularly in tools others use. (although I’ve done a call-to-action in GitHub READMEs and at the end of blog posts and there haven’t been any issues.)

arthurjj• 9 years ago

You should. There's nothing wrong with asking for donations especially since it's helping fund an open source project that people use. If anything not asking for donations is worse since there's nothing really supporting the project but your interest in it. By asking for donations your making the project stronger.

chinchang3• 9 years ago

True. Apart from financial aid, the motivation it might bring to see so many people appreciating and showing love seems far important.

purplejacket• 9 years ago

I agree. When I was in political activism circles we made CDs and pamphlets and such which we would sell during events. We charged maybe $5 for a CD, a low price, but not zero; we found that if people paid for the material they valued it more, rather than just tossing it aside. I feel this analogy holds some weight in regard to working on open source as well. People don't have to give you much, but if they give something, especially if it's regular, as on Patreon, they'll feel invested into it, and _you_ will feel more serious about it as well. It's a two way signal: that you're investing your time, energy and enthusiasm, and your patrons are thanking you for it.

Danihan• 9 years ago

Definitely not, start dressing like a crazy person and use drip instead.

https://d.rip/

chinchang3• 9 years ago

wow! When did this come in? Looks good as a Patreon alternative.

zanedb• 9 years ago

It's existed for a while, was purchased by Kickstarter some time ago, and was just recently relaunched.

jsnell• 9 years ago

What does your employment contract say about moonlighting in your own field of work? If it allows it, fine. If it forbids it, don't do it. If it doesn't explicitly say either way, consider at least informing your employer about this (even if you don't phrase it as asking for permission). It's better to have those kinds of discussions up front.

belltaco• 9 years ago

Give the money to you favorite charity at the least.

james-skemp2• 9 years ago

Why? And if you're going to do that, ask the people to donate directly. No reason for all those middlemen.

muzani• 9 years ago

I would say make it clear that you're happy working full time. Sometimes patrons expect that money would go into allowing someone to quit their jobs to work on a project.

m1keil• 9 years ago

Yes, you should.

jpetersonmn• 9 years ago

Maybe I'm missing something, but why even use Patreon, just ask for donations directly from people. As for the original question though, just because you have a job doesn't mean you shouldn't be rewarded for your open source work as well.

nnn1234• 9 years ago

yes. It depends more about the value you/your work brings to the world. If you are creating value , you should be able to monetize a part of it. Mind you, you might realize that the marktet value of your end product is not in line with your own valuation of it. BUt go ahead. More power to you

a-saleh• 9 years ago

I would first check with my manager or my accountant, that I am not doing something that would violating my employment contract.

I.e. my manager is quite open about 20% of time arrangements, and we are working on several open-source projects at work, but I am not sure if taking money for working on something extra wouldn't violate something. It might be worth it to have it clearly spelled out in the contract.

On the other hand, a.f.a.i.k. in what do you do in your free time on your own hardware should be no concern to your employer, so accepting patreon donors should fall into that category as well?

Alongside patreon, I would attempt to introduce something like Varnish Moral Licence [1] as well. It looks like Mr. Kamp figured a nice way how to get a open-source sponsorship from big corporations (because from the procurement's perspective it still looks like a licence you get an invoice for even you don't promise them anything in return :-)

[1] http://phk.freebsd.dk/VML/vmlfaq.html#isn-t-this-more-a-sort...

Ask HN: I have a job; should I still go on Patreon for free open-source stuff?

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