Comment by aaron-lebo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by aaron-lebo | Hacker News Reader

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Notice that you conflate developer and project as well. You want to support "a particular developer", but you expect commitment to "the project".

So is the donation with regards to the developer or a particular project? The developer doesn't get the donation with any regards to whether it is aimed at them or the project. Is the developer free to work on a different project? Does the person who donates even know? It just seems like it can lead to disappointment and frustration.

I believe I've seen some developers outright reject no-strings attached donations for this reason. What is expected of them? Should they feel beholden to those who give, and even if they shouldn't does psychology inevitably lead to that?

That's why I feel like it has to be hard goals. This is expected for this, and not a donation which has too many unintended consequences.

I don't mean to be overly argumentative.

The relationship between individuals and projects is a huge open question for Gittip. Here's the current state of my thinking (long thread preceding):

https://github.com/whit537/www.gittip.com/issues/27#issuecom...

Hard goals to me implies management, and I for one don't want to be a manager. ;^)

I think of it as a mix of supporting a developer, and a project. There is a lot of trust in gittip, and that is a good thing. If I ever grow dissatisfied with the developer I am supporting, I can withdraw my support, with no hard feelings.

I get some of these issues. I ran a middle school chess team for about five years. Sometimes I was paid, sometimes it was volunteer. There are different freedoms and pressures in each model. I think there is definitely a place for gittip in the OSS world.

fwiw I tend to look at it as a "thank you" and a no-strings "keep up the good work." Same way an actual tip works. That's clearly not the way everyone looks at it though.

Still, donating to an individual for their contributions, rather than to a project with the implied nudge that comes with a donation like that is, imo, the best approach.

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