My beef with gittip (charlesleifer.com)

I missed the discussion surrounding gettip - so this may have been said before; I agree that the hacker spirit often leads to projects forming from a passion of some sort - and that passion generally keeps the project going - but I also find myself coming up with new projects constantly, often leaving projects to wither away. It might be due to passion for a specific project just dwindling down, or a different project enticing far more passion. Would a couple of tips for an older project re-ignite the passion? That is hard to say - but it will make me think twice about the future of it and whether I should give it some love and care, or should pass the reigns on to a new maintainer that will give it the proper attention it might deserve.

I'm really confused by this post. It seems like "linkbait." The author doesn't like gittip because it doesn't pay out well enough, then turns around and dislikes it because people are getting paid. I doubt many gittip users right now think that they are helping to provide a living wage for the artist, or that their tip awakens some dormant passion for the project.

> I don't believe very many would trade their jobs for tips from the fickle public.

someone has yet to work as a freelance contractor, apparently.

If your project is funded by recurring tips from 1000 different users, if the quality and/or relevance of your project began declining, you'd see those tips start to decline over time, sending you the message that it's time to change how you're doing things, or move onto a different source of income.

That hypothetical situation is far more secure than receiving one salary from one single employer who could fire you or go out of business at any time, more often than not with no warning whatsoever to the paid employees.

Also I'm not sure why one needs to have a beef with gittip at all. If you don't like it, you are free not to participate. Trying to figure out what the actual "beef" is:

> The other flaw is that this inevitably boils down to a popularity contest.

Which almost makes no sense. What in this world is not a popularity contest already? My only guess is that it sounds like he prefers a market where open source projects remain underfunded and undermaintained, perhaps making it easier for hobbyists to make a splash.

> Tips are not a replacement for passion.

The idea is that for once, those of us who are passionate enough that this is much more than a hobby for us, who don't just come up with handy tools on github but in fact provide large pieces of infrastructure for dozens or hundreds of money-making companies, can finally get some regular compensation for it, exactly without being "beholden" to anyone.

I like it. It's always been hard to give someone a stipend due since you might like a project but not have enough income to spare.

This way a number of people can make individual small payments that will add up.

gittip and flattr are examples of an emerging gift economy. If that doesn't appeal to you, then you don't have to participate in it.

The point is not that people are receiving market rate for services rendered. It is a way to thank, and perhaps motivate individuals by showing an appreciation that is material beyond a simple thank you email.

Many of these people work on free software in their free time; free software that sometimes saves other individuals many hours of work. So what if all I'm doing is buying the person lunch? That is a generous expression and one that builds community and creates emotional and social incentives for the recipient.