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OpenBSD Project in Financial Danger
DieNadel writes "In an entry to the OpenBSD Journal, Marco, from the OpenBSD project, warns about the somewhat disturbing financial situation in which they are now. The OpenBSD team is the one that also develops the OpenSSH suite, used nowadays almost everywhere. From the entry: 'What I want to point out what a lot of people don't seem to realize is that OpenSSH development is paid from the same pool of money as OpenBSD. OpenSSH is in use by millions around the world however the revenue stream just simply isn't there. This is where other projects could help. Without naming entities or projects by name there are others out there that are sitting on some cash. It would be wonderful if these entities could share some of the wealth to keep us going.'"
You are living in a world controlled by capitalist America. If you want money, then you need to sell stuff to get it. Work hard. Get a job. Shave your head. Or something like that.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
Sorry, but I don't reward nearly intolerable behavior with my hard earned money. You feel free to do so, but where I come from, we pay people who do good work, do it well, and do it with a smile. I don't care if you cure cancer, if you're an ass to EVERYONE about it, you won't ever see a dime from me. I'll wait for an implementation from somebody who understands society is important, and is how you progress. Screw Theo, screw his piss poor attitude. I hope he has to get a job at McDonalds. Maybe that'll teach him some manners. Actually, just lock him and RMS up in a room and let them fight it out for a year or so. They should both come out pretty decent people in the end.
In the business world, if you create something valuable, you get paid for it. If you have enough customers, you'll be rich. In the OSS world you give away everything you make, and have to beg for sustenance. Do you want to be a businessman or a beggar? Take your pick!
I wish you, and everyone else here, would stop putting words in my mouth. I am relatively free with my money; on my last tax return, my wife and I used the turbotax deduction software and added up all that we had donated to various charities in the past year; it was over $2000 on a gross income of around $40,000, with a net far less than that due to child/daycare.
In the past, I have donated or purchased overpriced products from (the difference works out to the same as a donation) gentoo, redhat, mandrake, freebsd, and others.
I don't see how much clearer I could have been when I stated my point, though. I don't care about OpenBSD. BUT, I DO care about OpenSSH. Unfortunately, OpenSSH is only a small part of OpenBSD, and therefore, any money that I give to OpenBSD will only trickle down to OpenSSH (perhaps what, 5%?).
And I don't only use OpenSSH on i386, at work here we use it on Alpha / True64, Solaris 64bit, Mac/PPC, and x86. Not to mention, I have an SSH client on my Cellphone (god knows if there's any OpenSSH code in that). BUT even if I did only use it on x86, I'd still donate, because the money is going to someone who will look at the OpenSSH code.
The pothole analogy is a terrible one. Better would be this: Of all taxes collected locally to fund the War in Iraq, 5% will go towards fixing the roads in my town. There is no other mechanism for fixing the potholes other than to raise taxes specifically for funding the Iraq war. All I want are my potholes fixed. Should I vote to raise taxes?
But, even as such, analogies are dumb anyway. It's not hard to comprehend what I am saying. If OpenSSH was really in trouble, I'd gladly kick in $10 to save it. But, I'm not going to kick $10 to OpenBSD when I don't care about it and only $0.50 is going to do anything for OpenSSH.
It all boils down to this: It's my money. I'm greatful that the OpenBSD team has given the world OpenSSH. I'm annoyed that they're trying to use the OpenSSH tail to wag the OpenBSD dog. Therefore, until there's some way to donate directly to the developmers who maintain OpenSSH, I won't consider giving.
If such a guaranteed mechanism does exist, though, let me know and I will match your donation up to $50, and eat ramen at work for 2 weeks.
~Will
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