Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by limagnolia on Thursday February 26, 2026 @08:07PM
(#47174919)
A grant can be for a lot more than $5,000. It can be for as much as the grant-making org has and wants to spend. Grants can be given on an ongoing basis as well.
Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by kvinogradov on Thursday February 26, 2026 @08:29PM
(#47175096)
Now the Open Source Endowment is a very small organization that starts with ~$5k microgrants. It is not enough for a living but still should help maintainers not only financially but also by allocating attention.
As it grows bigger, the grant size will also grow. One can help with this by donating and bringing in new donors!
Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by PaulDavisThe1st on Thursday February 26, 2026 @11:08PM
(#47176383)
I think my point is that grants may not be the way to get what is desired. Most people need predictable, long term income. You can get stuff done with grants, no doubt. But that's not the question - the question is can you build long term sustainable maintainance mechanisms for OSS. I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by kvinogradov on Friday February 27, 2026 @08:01PM
(#47188530)
Software has its own lifecycle, and the funding should not stick indefinitely to a specific project. Meanwhile, our grant format might evolve into some type of limited tenured positions for maintainers, which support the most critical yet risky projects. But this target scope should be dynamic and adapt to the market—global consumption of OSS; otherwise, we may end up maintaining COBOL in 2100...
Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by psychoslave on Friday February 27, 2026 @03:42AM
(#47178157)
$5000 is enough to make a living in several countries.
On a global scale, likely less than 10% of the world's population has ever been able to save $5,000 at any point in their life, with the vast majority concentrated in high-income countries. In low- and middle-income countries, this is a rare achievement limited to a small, affluent minority.
Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by pdimitar on Saturday February 28, 2026 @08:57AM
(#47195441)
I believe the poster was referring to a one-time $5000 grant.
Re:Open Source Endowment – new funding source for open sourc...
by kvinogradov on Monday March 02, 2026 @03:26PM
(#47223577)
It can be a recurring grant if a target OSS project continues to be highly valuable, but risky. When it loses value or is derisked (e.g. by extra funding), then grant priority will naturally move to another project.
The biggest issue that I see is that even for things that are in some respects "finished", grants on the order of $5k do not change the maintainance picture very much at all. If there's a sudden crisis with critical infrastructure, people will step. But that's precisely what we want to move away from, and to do that the funding needs to be living-wage level, not single-issue grants.
It is awesome when those grants happen, and specific new features or compatibility are worked on. But the sustainability question is really not about that kind of work, for the most part. Somebody needs to actually be the guy in Nebraska and they need to consider that their role. Possibly it is just one role among a few, but it needs to be bigger than a one-and-done $5k-sized role.
The question is really how to redirect the streams of revenue that currently flow toward capital so that the people who work on OSS can do this as a living, not a part time calling. I don't see grants as a significant part of that.