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Open Source Economics (is not what you think)
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Mike McQuaid
October 27, 2021
Technology
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Open Source Economics (is not what you think)
What open source economics aren't, are and the solutions for open source economic problems.
Mike McQuaid
October 27, 2021
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Transcript
Open Source Economics (is not what you think) 💷👩💻🌍🧘🥳 @MikeMcQuaid
Staff Engineer in Communities (GitHub Engineer 2013 – Present)
Project Leader on Homebrew (Homebrew Maintainer 2009 – Present)
👎 What aren’t Open Source Economics 👍 What are Open
Source Economics? 👩🔧 What are some solutions?
What aren’t 👎 Open Source Economics?
Economics: how 💵💶💷💴 flows around an economy?
OSS Economics: how 💵💶💷💴 flows between projects?
GitHub Sponsors
OSS problems: Solution: 💵💶💷💴 fixes all problems?
What are 👍 Open Source Economics?
Economic problem: Allocation of limited resources (💵💶💷💴)?
OSS Economic problem: Allocation of limited maintainers (👩💻👪🧑💻)
The Open Source Contributor Funnel https://mikemcquaid.com/2018/08/14/the-open-source-contributor-funnel/
Maintainer allocation: Help 🌍 or help 🙋?
Nadia Eghbal, Working in Public A tragedy of the commons
occurs not from consumers over- appropriating the content itself, but from consumers over- appropriating a creator’s attention.
Maintainer time: More 💵💶💷💴 means more ⏰ ?
Maintainer income: How much 💵💶💷💴 to work full-time?
What are 👩🔧 some solutions?
How to Focus 🧘 🧘
GitHub Actions
actions/stale
GitHub Discussions
Issue Forms
Maintainer focus: Enjoyment! 😍🥰🤪🥳
How to Spend Money 💵 💶 💷 💴
Pay maintainers: GitHub Sponsors == 💵💶💷💴 for their work
Outreachy
OSS Economics: 🧘 🧘 + 💵💶💷💴 == 😍🥰🤪🥳 https://mikemcquaid.com/2021/10/27/open-source-economics/