There were some posts over the holiday season asking for projects to donate to, and for those who have the means to comfortably do so, this is an important gift to consider.

If there’s only a limited amount each of us is able to give, I assume there’s no point giving it all to, for one example, The Linux Foundation, because a small personal donation is trivial next to the ~$15,000,000 USD they receive from sponsors dependent on them[1]. I understand that funding sources can be a major and profound source of bias[2] and ideally we would be, for example, helping to make Firefox independent of Google, but until we have more collective power, it’s not worth letting smaller important projects struggle instead.

So, which important projects should we leave to the sponsors, and which really need our support?

    • paradox2011@lemmy.ml
      2·
      4 months ago

      I do see a mention in that post about instead supporting the jellyfin client developers. They give this page as a reference for who to support based on which client you use.

    • Anivia@feddit.org
      0·
      4 months ago

      Reading the first lines I was gonna say just cause their operating costs are covered doesn’t mean they should refuse more donations, because they could use the money to hire people to fix their garbage software.

      But they cleared that up further down where they suggest donating to Jellyfin clients instead, which are indeed the biggest problem at the moment.

      Hopefully it will one day become a viable Plex alternative for people that are sharing their server with “normie” users, and not just users that are technologically inclined and willing to use external Android TV boxes instead of hoping their SmartTV has a Jellyfin client available for it that isn’t hot garbage

        • beastlykings@sh.itjust.works
          0·
          4 months ago

          Do you not have a TV? I’ve watched stuff on my monitor, sure, but sitting on the couch watching TV is what the vast majority of people do.

          Unless you mean connecting your computer to your TV? I did this for awhile, there are ways to make it work, but I much prefer using a Chromecast or similar device to simplify the whole interaction.

          • taiidan@slrpnk.net
            0·
            4 months ago

            I have a low power nuc that I use to watch TV. All streaming services + KODI or whatever. I don’t know why I would use some proprietary dongle. I prefer FOSS.

            • beastlykings@sh.itjust.works
              0·
              4 months ago

              That’s cool. Is there an option for “casting” type software to emulate a Chromecast? I like choosing stuff on my phone and sending it to the TV

              • taiidan@slrpnk.net
                1·
                3 months ago

                We have a all-in-one keyboard and mouse. Labeled function keys to start streaming services with Chrome in kiosk mode. Obviously, mouse to navigate is in some ways more work than a remote, but actually much faster. Similarly, typing for a search is way faster with keyboard. Side benefit is that it’s larger size means it won’t get lost in the couch cushions.

                • beastlykings@sh.itjust.works
                  2·
                  3 months ago

                  That’s actually a pretty slick idea not gonna lie. If I ever de-Google, that might be the way I go.

                  I like to travel with a Chromecast and a mini router so I can do TV stuff away from home.

                  Now I’m wondering, I know that USB stick computers have existed for awhile. I’m wondering… Does something similar in size to the Chromecast exist? Something just powerful enough to stream whatever I want to a TV with whatever software I can load on it? Hmm…

  • smpl@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    I’d recommend you donate money to those who host open infrastructure. That stuff is expensive and critical to the free and open internet.

    As for free software projects I suggest donating your time with contributions. That’s what they need the most. Helping with bug reports and writing documentation are easy starters and worth much more than money. That’s hard to sell as a gift though… One gift card for confirming and investigating a bug in free software of choice. Merry Christmas Uncle Bob!

    Going from being a cool hacker who does things for fun and share it with his peers to being a poor cyberbeggar does no good to a persons selfworth. Help out by contributing and let Mr. Cool Hacker have time for his day job on the side. We get better software and fewer burnouts.

    • comfy@lemmy.mlOP
      1·
      4 months ago

      I’m glad you mentioned the open infrastructure projects. For example, I use some of the few remaining nitter/invidious/etc. servers.

      As for free software projects I suggest donating your time with contributions.

      Definitely. I’m already spending much of my spare time doing this.

  • squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de
    2·
    4 months ago

    AntennaPod states this on their website

    AntennaPod doesn’t need a lot of money. Our (annual) costs are already covered by our existing donation funds. Therefore, we’d much prefer it if you

    • donate to your favorite podcast(er), or
    • help us with a non-monetary contribution.
  • Orbituary@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    Why do people ask questions like this? Isn’t, “Which worthwhile FOSS projects are underfunded?” a better way to say it?

    It’s just so kludgy.

  • ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.comEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Maybe I can say Wikipedia because if it’s mediawiki software. Every year they ask for money but a lot of their funds don’t go towards the Wikipedia project.

  • Andrei@lemmy.ml
    01·
    4 months ago

    Matrix, Deltachat, Nextcloud more then enough, they can not more even with money

    • hash@slrpnk.netEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      Matrix? Are we going by volume or need? Cause i’m pretty sure they could use more funding.

      • Andrei@lemmy.ml
        11·
        3 months ago

        Don’t get me wrong using the Matrix, etc. But! They constantly complain: there is no money, no money, money appears, problems are not solved as before. A simple infusion of money will not solve anything… Money for what?! There are a lot of similar projects that are conceived and managed by one person, only one, without an army of programmers, managers, managers, etc.