However, the article doesn't address the most obvious question, how does Henry fund this activity?
> I currently host two podcasts studio_microphone: Hope in Source and Maintainers Anonymous.
This isn't very typical of open source creators, but for people who want to live off donations, it's a big help, because it helps building a fanbase of people, of which a subset then donates to you. Basically the same model as of a youtuber, who also creates content and uses patreon because youtube's unilateral and weird decisions to demonetize people or change their compensation on a whim.
Furthermore, it really depends on which area you work in. It seems that in the js ecosystem, it's possible to live off donations, but the js ecosystem is gigantic, and many people make money building js stuff.
IDK the people who can live off donations are an extremely tiny subset of all open source maintainers. For most people it's as unattainable as living from your proceedings of being a youtube star, and even then lots of people want to become youtube stars.
That being said, for the 99%, being in open source is still beneficial, as it opens doors into the jobs world, helps building a portfolio as well as a network, both useful for getting a job.
What was also missing was if he is a 1-man WFH show, or whether they are a team with an office. I don't know Babel really, maybe it's obvious to others. But it would provide context.
I also wondered why NYC. If you are low on funds, or at least your economic base for your project is fragile, why choose such an expensive place to live? If you are WFH anyway (is he?) then some cheap place in the midwest would instantly multiply the buying power of the availabe funds. How to explain to donors that half of their donations go straight into the pockets of the landlord for an overprized tiny apartment?
If an open source maintainer relies on GH sponsors, Patreon, Open Collective then they are going to have to invest time in marketing themselves to the community. It's an odd dynamic.
Open source / Free software has been valued over $400 billion, and supports our entire economy, funding developers shouldn't be a problem.
Open source / Free software is a public goods issue, and we should be looking for the best ways to support them.
Quadratic funding could be a useful mechanism for this:
Patreon after the recent incident make me trust less and less centralised players. Seems like a power corrupt symptom