Zach Leatherman

Unfortunately @baldur is exactly right — and this goes for darling frameworks, devtools, and SaaS too: https://toot.cafe/@baldur/112428431536118693

The rise and fall of Gatsby.js is concrete evidence that millions in funding has no guarantee of long-term stability — especially for larger software shops (enterprise, education) with five or ten year project horizons. Once the runway is exhausted, that’s usually it and these shops are now forced to scope large-scale rewrites.

Baldur Bjarnason (@[email protected])

One of the things that the Stack Overflow brouhaha demonstrates is that it doesn’t matter if a service was founded by people trusted by the community (Atwood and Spolsky) and was broadly community-led. If it’s a VC-funded startup, they will sell out their users at some point.

Toot Café
May 13, 2024 at 4:46pmWeb
Show threadJon KupermanMay 13, 2024
@zachleat @baldur it feels like we (tech) like to pretend the business side of things doesn’t exist
Show threadZach LeathermanMay 13, 2024
@jkup @baldur monetization and OSS continues to be an incredibly tricky problem
Show threadRandom Geek in limboMay 13, 2024

@zachleat @baldur so many great projects big and small that faded or just dropped right off a cliff because they got money to sustain development, and then the money and structural support just went away.

Part of why I have mixed feelings about "big orgs should pay for the FOSS tools they use." Kind of a "yes and" — yes and there should be some kind of community support for budgeting assistance so sponsored projects aren't dependent on a money funnel.

Show threadZach LeathermanMay 13, 2024
@randomgeek @baldur I think a lot about how full time sponsorship of 11ty almost killed the project
Show threadRandom Geek in limboMay 13, 2024

@zachleat @baldur It's exciting! I was excited for you! It seems like such a great idea. And parts of it are.

But oh lord it's so dependent on the whims of people who don't really care.

Show threadBetsy. (a muffin).May 13, 2024

@zachleat @randomgeek @baldur

Would love to hear more about this, if you've done any writing on the subject.

Before the xz crisis I naively assumed that monetary sponsorship was an easy solution to OSS sustainability, but I don't think money WOULD have helped that situation -- so I've been rethinking a lot, even though I do want to see folks get paid for labor.

Interested in hearing more practical perspectives.

Show threadZach LeathermanMay 13, 2024
@betsythemuffin @randomgeek @baldur I’m not sure that I can without it seeming like I’m not grateful for the time I was given. It just ended so poorly that it wrecked my mental health pretty bad.
Show threadBetsy. (a muffin).May 13, 2024

@zachleat @randomgeek @baldur

No worries! It's a difficult topic. I'm glad it didn't wind up killing 11ty as a project; it's a bright light in the howling darkness of bad frontend ideas.

Show threadJulianoëMay 13, 2024

@zachleat
@baldur goes the same for every wordpress plugins or any softwares that have captured user base. If it's not 150% milked to the bone is wasted revenue opportunity for owners and shareholders. So the enshitification is guaranteed to happen at one point.

Current capitalism acceleration we are living under means that those people don't want to play the long run anymore. They want cash fast & dirty, then jump to the next. Like locusts going through a field. They will leave it dead.