The article “Are donations effective for open source projects?” discusses that developing time is the key element for open source projects rather than donations and donations for open sources lack the urgency and personal empathy that charity causes have. It simply states donations aren’t effective if donations can’t buy time. Furthermore it gives the example of a man named Jeff Atwood, who donated $5,000 to a .NET open source project. After asking the developer where the money was used for, Jeff found out his money had been untouched for months. “Open source projects run on time, not money”, his friend Join Galloway said.
However, I do believe donations can contribute in improving the quality of open source projects. Even if the time spent on the project is rather little, financial recourses could help improve the quality of the time spent. But to make the project more credible, developers should explain clearly where they specifically are planning to use the donations for. Furthermore they should engage people more, like charities.
Although I believe donations can help improve open source projects, I don’t think I will donate to open source projects. The biggest risk for me is that you’re not sure how long they will continue with this project and therefore will actually use your money for the things you expect them to use it for. It seems like a no-strings grant. There could be a certain point that the donations aren’t enough to serve the financial costs of the project which could lead to ending the project sooner. Almost 95% of open source projects are no longer maintained after a year (Open Source By The Numbers)
So some people may be concerned their donations are simply a “thank you” note to the researchers than actually improving the certain project. Do you agree with the Join Galloway’s statement? Would you donate to open source projects? How do you think open sources can attract more donations?
References:
http://opensource.com/business/13/7/donations-open-source-projects
http://www.binpress.com/blog/2013/04/14/open-source-cannot-live-on-donations-alone/
http://blog.codinghorror.com/is-money-useless-to-open-source-projects/
http://www.slideshare.net/blackducksoftware/open-source-by-the-numbers
I don’t agree with Join Galloway. Like you said donations can improve open source projects. But this will only occur if the money is used wisely. I’ve never donated to open – source projects but I will if I really depend on open source projects. For example if Wikipedia stops because of a lack of money then I want to give money because I use it for school a lot. When you donate there’s always a risk that your money is not used for the things you expect them to use for. That’s also with charities.
To attract more donations open-source projects can give you more rights to edit projects. Like becoming a moderator when you donate atleast 10 dollars. In that way the donater is rewarded for his money.