Paying for open source for years and years

Open source developers need money. They need to get payed all their hard work. This is a problem I have been thinkin a lot about lately. But does anyone have a solution?

Developers tend to group together under larger organisations and foundations in the hopes that their efforts will be protected by the share mass of developers. This is working out great. However they still does not get payed. There are only a very few that have a commercial sponsor that is sponsoring their work on a project for one or another reason.

I think it is time that open source should ask something back from all their users. A small amount from everyone into a found could potentially raise enough money to pay a handfull of developers to work full time with their passion. I have hopes of seeing some or other organisation springing up in the near future, that will be dedicated to paying open source developers.

The Nobel Price is funded by the interests of a huge fortune donated by Alfred Nobel. If everyone gave a tiny amount of money into a fund that would be invested in safe securities…. I think we—the community—could raise enough money to pay for a hard core of developers for years to come! How this money would be spent and who would be payed, I am not willing to speculate on. But the idea is there….

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