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the sad reality of open source software development

In short: folks love the amazing decentralised encrypted comms utopia of Matrix. But organisations also love that they can use it without having to pay anyone to develop or maintain it. This is completely unsustainable, and Element is now literally unable to fund the entirety of the Matrix Foundation on behalf of everyone else - and has had to lay off some of the folks working on the core team as a result.


matrix.org/blog/2022/12/25/the…


The Matrix Holiday Update 2022 | Matrix.org

Matrix.org

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in reply to Gustav H Meyer

Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
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Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
• •

just learned, how horribly underfunded #Matrix is.
Although it's not much, I chipped in at least a small monthly donation I can afford on #LiberaPay, where the current total monthly amount is shockingly low.

If you can, please help this important project of the #Fediverse!

liberapay.com/matrixdotorg/

#OpenSource #Sustainability #Matrix #Donations #Finances #Support

Screenshot from https://liberapay.com/matrixdotorg/ showing the text: matrixdotorg receives €183.58 per week from 180 patrons.
#opensource #fediverse #matrix #sustainability #support #liberapay #donations #finances
in reply to Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted

Tio
friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Tio
•
They also get a lot more from Patreon patreon.com/matrixdotorg and grants matrix.org/faq/#how-is-matrixo… but of course such a big project should be properly supported. I'd say governments should help fund these sort of projects and use these.

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Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
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Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
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@tio yes, it really surprised me to see, they're not appropriately government-funded, since at least the German and French governments heavily make use of it.
@Tio
in reply to Tio

workingsea
akkoma - Link to source
workingsea
• •
It's better to donate on Liberapay than patreon, as Liberapay doesn't take any of the donations to themselves.
in reply to Tio

NNYLiberty
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NNYLiberty
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Nope, then the Government will demand control of it
in reply to Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted

Ghosn in the cellar
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Ghosn in the cellar
• •
@eliasp Well it is a single-company product where specs are decided by mostly people at the same company, and is backed by cryptocurrency venture capitalists (see: bottom of matrix.org homepage), and it is steamrolling the alternatives thanks to the money it can throw around, apparently not for much longer, but so far it has failed to produce a healthy ecosystem
@Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
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The Matrix.org Foundation
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The Matrix.org Foundation
• •
@Greviculteur @eliasp This is bullshit, needless to say. In fact, the problem is that there are too many companies building on top without supporting core devs. Less than half the spec proposals are written by core team members. In terms of β€œsteamrollering other projects” - the enemy here are proprietary comms silos, not us. 😑
@Ghosn in the cellar @Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
Unknown parent

The Matrix.org Foundation
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The Matrix.org Foundation
• •
@loveisgrief @eliasp @tio the post tries to explain the situation: matrix.org/blog/2022/12/25/the…. many governments don’t contribute at all, or only are willing to sponsor new features (which then take resources away from improving the core). perversely, β€œpublic money for public code” has been interpreted as a justification to only pay for new features rather than supporting maintenance.

The Matrix Holiday Update 2022 | Matrix.org

Matrix.org
@Tio @Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted

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Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
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Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
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Das wΓ€re doch mal ein Thema fΓΌrs @bsi, was im Interesse der "digitalen SouverΓ€nitΓ€t & Sicherheit" an die BReg herangetragen werden kΓΆnnte (Sicherung einer kontinuierlichen Finanzierung von funktional- und sicherheitsrelevanten OpenSource-Projekten, insbes. solchen, welche durch BundesbehΓΆrden/-institutionen direkt oder als AbhΓ€ngigkeit genutzt werden).

@matrix @loveisgrief @tio @inetpro

@Tio @The Matrix.org Foundation @BSI @Gustav H Meyer
in reply to The Matrix.org Foundation

triple5
mastodon - Link to source
triple5
• •
@matrix @loveisgrief @eliasp @tio I've just chipped in my dime, but I would rather have my taxes spent on matrix than on more motorways, Airlines, Energygiants and big banks.
@Bundespresseamt
Btw are you supporting the #fediverse, #wikipedia, #gnu / #LINUX other than just taking it for granted? It is like living in Germany and just NOT paying taxes. Only the bad guys do that. #commons
#Linux #fediverse #gnu #wikipedia #Commons @Tio @The Matrix.org Foundation @Elias Probst 39C3Ticket wanted
in reply to Gustav H Meyer

Ludovic Dubost
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Ludovic Dubost
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Open Protocols and Open Source is a challenge. Lot's of users take it for granted and don't participate to it's funding. However the issue is not wether or not you can fund it, but how much you can fund and how fast it develops. Matrix has funding. Maybe not enough to go as fast as they would like or to manage the expectations of some investors (of element). There are many much smaller OSS projects which work with less money 1/2
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Ludovic Dubost
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Ludovic Dubost
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In any case, there is a reality check that needs to happen from large users, private companies, software companies, administration, that for Open Source end user software to strive and replace large proprietary platforms, they need to chip in and help the projects they rely on. 2/2
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Ludovic Dubost
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Ludovic Dubost
• •
We at XWiki we run our own projects @XWiki and @cryptpad. We've worked hard to develop them and found ways to fund them, without external investors. In the latest years we've manage to fund CryptPad with EU projects (thanks) but to make it sustainable we do need clients of cryptpad.fr or donations opencollective.com/cryptpad

CryptPad: end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite

cryptpad.fr
@XWiki SAS @CryptPad
in reply to Gustav H Meyer

Ade Malsasa Akbar
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Ade Malsasa Akbar
• •
hello @nlnetlabs, I humbly want to ask your opinion about this funding issue concerning Matrix chat.
@NLnet Labs
in reply to Ade Malsasa Akbar

NLnet Labs
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NLnet Labs
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@ademalsasa It's hard for us to comment on this specific situation, other than that we love the Matrix and Element software and think they deserve sustainable funding.

We don't know the specifics of Matrix or their funding model. All OSS organisations are different, even in our corner of the world - core-internet infrastructure software - there are huge differences in funding models.

In that sense, there's more than one reality for OSS, there are many.

@Ade Malsasa Akbar

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Nico Rikken
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Nico Rikken
• •
@nlnetlabs
@ademalsasa An important aspect mentioned by @matrix is that current funding is for feature development and so the main issue is to fund the growing burden of maintenance. As the #Matrix ecosystem matures the funding has to match this transition by shifting from feature development to maintenance.
#matrix @Ade Malsasa Akbar @The Matrix.org Foundation @NLnet Labs
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NLnet Labs
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NLnet Labs
• •
@nicorikken @ademalsasa @matrix One thing we’d like to clear up is that NLnet Labs (nlnetlabs.nl) the software development organization is in no way associated with NLnet (nlnet.nl), who fund open source projects.
@Ade Malsasa Akbar @The Matrix.org Foundation @Nico Rikken
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Ade Malsasa Akbar
mastodon - Link to source
Ade Malsasa Akbar
• •

@nlnetlabs thank you for your opinion and clarification, my friend. Wish the best for Matrix Project and all projects under NLnet.

@nicorikken @inetpro @matrix

@The Matrix.org Foundation @NLnet Labs @Gustav H Meyer @Nico Rikken
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Nico Rikken
mastodon - Link to source
Nico Rikken
• •
@nlnetlabs
@ademalsasa @matrix
I know, but it is a bit confusing on face value. Perhaps NLnet can also stand up a Mastodon account?
@Ade Malsasa Akbar @The Matrix.org Foundation @NLnet Labs
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