They may want to add a description of what the hell it is, instead of just linking to a website that is only an email gathering prompt. Right now all I can gather from comments on it is that it monetizes the fediverse "somehow", but there's zero explanation of where the money comes from, who it goes to, who the whole thing supports, etc etc. If they don't want to seem sketchy as hell, they should be forthcoming about who they are and how they work.
From the related post linked by op, it's described as just a portion of the managed instance hosting fee going back to the project devs. So if you pay them to host a lemmy instance, a small cut goes to Lemmy devs. Doesn't seem sketchy at all. Seems to have nothing to do with monetizing the instance itself, which could be funded by voluntary donations as normal or you could probably do membership fees as some instances do. It seems this is just about giving funding to the software devs. Hopefully this encourages other managed hosting providers to also give a cut of their revenue to the software they are using for their business.
To be clear, I'm not saying it is sketchy. I'm saying that giving absolutely zero information on a service they are ostensibly promoting makes it look sketchy. Giving even a simple breakdown of their goals and process is really the least they could do.
That's actually a really cool incentive. Lemmy seems like a relatively easy target, too, since each node can help stabilize the overall network.
Fríggin' finally. Talk to some of the fediverse people on Matrix or Discord regarding monetization and they'll lose their tiny little minds.
The most belligerent ones seems like a bunch of anarchists and tankies who couldn't give a flying crap about independent or small businesses, such as content creators, all the while forcing content creators to stay on the large platforms (like YouTube, Patreon, etc) unknowingly going nowhere.
The fediverse needs to spearhead ethical monetization, and no: relying on the "honour system", unlimited CC distribution and attribution while hoping you'll get money through BitBucket donations is not a way to pay rent. It's yee olde "trust me bros", but instead of massive corporations, it's a boys club of ideologically finagling molluscs.
Give me exclusive (or locked content), direct donation functions and subscription functions. Build it, and they will come. Ignore it, and most likely some unethical businesses will co-opt everything (like Meta) and just steamroll the whole movement.
Be anti-capitalist. That's fine. But don't be one of those guys who think you're just one day away from the revolution. That's dumb. Let's bring monetization to the fediverse!
Just as a heads up, anarchism doesn't preclude monetization. Co-ops are anarchist alternatives to corporations and already exist in many of the more progressive areas of the US today. The principle is just to remove unjust hierarchies, and you can still do that as much as possible while living under capitalism. Sure maybe some have founded some anarchist commune and live completely cash free, but I think the majority are just trying to flatten the hierarchies as much as is reasonable, and acknowledge the necessity of money in our current society.
As an anecdote, I'm pretty far left myself and will regularly read and participate in anarchist communities, but am totally okay with people trying to earn money in an as fair and ethical way as is reasonable in our current society.
@maegul there should really be a license for that, which allows for free use in a non-commercial manner but triggers a responsibility to contribute back financially, even in a small way, when there is commerce involved.
This could provide a funding model for #FOSS #OpenSource projects that are exploited by the likes of #amazon etc that could and should be supporting them, for the value they bring.
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