Mastodawn

David Slifka Feb 6, 2023

The fediverse has come this far despite being very capital-constrained.

What if that constraint were lifted?

If you have a project or idea (for- or non-profit) that helps build or grow the fediverse and would benefit from funding, I hope you'll apply here. Thank you!
https://bit.ly/fediverse-funding

Fediverse Funding Opportunities

Fediverse funding opportunities If you have a project or idea to grow the fediverse or Mastodon, and if funding would help you do it faster/bigger/better, I hope you’ll apply for funding here: https://form.typeform.com/to/eMY7s8S8 Increasingly, there’s interest in supporting the fediverse from b...

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James M.Feb 7, 2023

@davidslifka to everyone not liking this post:

Look, I'm trying to escape capitalism just as much as anyone else, but the reality is that in today's godforsaken gladiator economy, funding can enable projects that wouldn't otherwise be able to do their thing. I'd love it if everyone could figure out how to get by outside of the money system, but today a lot of projects fail because the people doing it need to keep a roof over their head. To deny this is a *very* privileged viewpoint.

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rakoo Feb 7, 2023

@jamesmarshall @davidslifka I don't think anyone denies the need for money in a capitalist society, this is different.

When you get funding, it's not a donation; it's a loan, with full expectation of a positive ROI. Which means someone who accepted the funding must not only get money for themselves, but *also* for someone else. And the only way that works at scale, currently, is surveillance capitalism.

I'm all for giving money to my instance hoster, or to the app developer if it's very good (but only if it's Libre -- a discussion for another time). But where does this money go ? To the devs ? Or to the VC ?

That's why I'm asking about the kinds of business models that could be viable here. I don't know if it's possible to have a business model that preserves privacy, community *and* pays the funders, but I don't know much so 🤷

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James M.Feb 7, 2023

@rakoo @davidslifka thanks for your (respectful) thoughts and clarification.

Not all funding has an expectation of ROI. For-profit investments do; non-profit donations generally do not. Some are "donor-advised" contributions, which means the donor states which activities the donation is used for. Now, there are certainly shady nonprofits that are vehicles for corporate influence, but most are not.

For the record, I run a nonprofit that writes open source software. I'm a devoted fan of FOSS.

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rakoo

@jamesmarshall @davidslifka I admit I have little experience with non profits but the idea of funding sounds... sketchy ? I don't know