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Discussion on: Pay your rent from open source 💸

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Liyas Thomas

I feel exactly the same. It's a creative urge, like writing music (which I also do, and I feel the passion for both is very similar).

I've received some donations, but nothing that could pay for anything significant, but I don't really see the donations as something that might eventually pay, but instead I see them as "thank you for the work", which is always appreciated.

However, I have seen some upsides, which are hard to put a dollar value on:

  • Learnt new things

  • Made great connections with smart people

  • A powerful sense that I'm contributing to humanity (even if it's in a relatively small way), rather than just being a consumer

There are probably other things that I've forgotten, but there's more value to OSS than just cash.

For some people who are young or people who already have relatively secure lives (like me). Reality starts hitting hard when there is something like medical emergency or a desire to owning a house to live.