General Discussion

11989 readers

347 users here now

Welcome to Lemmy.World General!

This is a community for general discussion where you can get your bearings in the fediverse. Discuss topics & ask questions that don't seem to fit in any other community, or don't have an active community yet.

🪆 About Lemmy World

🧭 Finding Communities

Feel free to ask here or over in: [email protected]!

Also keep an eye on:

For more involved tools to find communities to join: check out Lemmyverse and Feddit Lemmy Community Browser!

💬 Additional Discussion Focused Communities:

[email protected] - Note this is for more serious discussions.
[email protected] - The opposite of the above, for more laidback chat!
[email protected] - Into video games? Here's a place to discuss them!
[email protected] - Watched a movie and wanna talk to others about it? Here's a place to do so!

Rules

Remember, Lemmy World rules also apply here.

0. See: Rules for Users.

No bigotry: including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
Be thoughtful and helpful: even with ‘silly’ questions. The world won’t be made better by dismissive comments to others on Lemmy.
Link posts should include some context/opinion in the body text when the title is unaltered, or be titled to encourage discussion.
Posts concerning other instances' activity/decisions are better suited to [email protected] or [email protected] communities.
No Ads/Spamming.
No NSFW content.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

Jessica

ElectroVagrant

fubo

126

As Lemmy grows, and instances start taking donations, I’d love to see an open book approach to spending. (lemmyunchained.net)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/general

35 comments fedilink hide all child comments

First off, let me start by saying I'm a big proponent of donations as a means of supporting platforms like Lemmy, and their hosts. This approach, when carried out in the spirit of transparency and community engagement, can do wonders for the growth and sustainability.

Hosting an instance myself, I’m fully aware of the costs associated with running servers, handling traffic, and providing the best possible experience for users. I am Lucky that im in a position where right now I am able to wear that coat, but I am more than willing to financially support other instances where I find value (and I have), and I have no doubt many of you feel the same way. But while we're on this topic, I think it's important to talk about financial transparency.

As users, we entrust these platforms with our time, our discussions, and in the case of donations, our hard-earned money. I believe it's fair to ask for a little insight into how our contributions are being used. What proportion goes towards server costs, maintenance, development,staffing, or perhaps even community projects?

My hope is for Lemmy instances to set a precedent by adopting an 'open book' policy when it comes to spending. It would be a great step towards fostering trust and engagement in our community.

There are plenty of platforms out there which handle donations, but I wonder if there's one that already facilitates such transparency? If not, I believe it would be a worthy endeavor to find or create one that does.

Would you appreciate more transparency on how donations are spent? And do you know of any donation platforms that encourage this level of openness? Your feedback is always appreciated, as at some point, I may need to do the same.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Am I the only one who think they can use the money as they please? Just do crack and prostitutes, who cares. Instances are not controlling anything, why it matters? Just keep source code open and if you are too high on drugs someone else can take over and people can jump to another instance. Just complete the tools to perform instance to instance migration.

FOSS is not normal corporate world, were you have to be scared of the people running the show.

Edit: just to make sure that single instance doesnt get too much power. I.e. meta joining can be problem. If no single entity has enough power to control the whole show, then users are in power.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Certainly, the decentralized nature of our platforms means instance operators have the freedom to spend their donations as they wish - be it on personal indulgences like drugs and prostitution, or anything else.

However, I feel there's a responsibility that comes with earning income through these platforms. I would love to see transparency on whether, and how much of, that income is given back to support the development of the source code - the very code that enables them to generate income for such expenses in the first place.

So, while I'm not here to pass judgement on the choice to spend on drugs and prostitution, I do think it's important to acknowledge and support the foundation that allows these instances to exist and thrive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Sure, users are in control, if they choose to choose instance that opens their books, then should be able to do so. This causes a positive loop of openness, which is never a bad thing.

If some instance clearly states that they will use money on self interest, I might donate to them out of respect.