Incredible, the last two months absolutely crushed on the first day of December and all it took was a single desktop notification. This is just the paypal donations as well. You can take a look at the data for yourself here.
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2024
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I'm split on this. On one hand of course they need funding, on the other i left windows behind because all their shitty self advertisement so i got a bit irritated by seeing the notification. Of course the notification is easily ignored and if it's a one time thing is fine but I'm scared it might not be
One notification per year, that can be permanently disabled by the user and by distributions, is worlds apart from Windows' bullshit
I think it's about time FOSS points out the fact that making software is a lot of work and while it's cool if some want to do it for free / as a hobby we need projects to be financially sustainable. Sure its nice if government orgs or companies sponsor open source projects but I feel it would be better if the community(tm) could pay most of the costs. I know thats utopian but I think most people don't realise how much work goes into all of these projects and (as evident by that graph) a lot of them seem to be up for paying for a good product that doesn't spy on you.
I thought it was good to see to be honest. None of this just conjures itself out of thin air, and it'd be worse if they had no other way to get money except sell out to some corporate entity.
Some people don't even think about donating, not that they don't want to but it hasn't even occurred to them.
A gentle reminder on occasion is completely acceptable and uses no dark patterns to get you to donate.
if that's enough to put you off, then leave
work on desktop linux, esp. outside of gnome, is voluntary, but it costs money. donations are necessary to keep the project living, but most people are unaware kde is not in a great place financially and would be willing to help if they knew. this is just a gentle reminder that donating could make you help an organization that makes software you love
but if you do not care about the financial health of a project that helps you daily and a gentle reminder that takes you away from your blissful unawareness bothers you this much, go away. kde devs don't owe you anything and you won't be missed
To be fair, KDE will probably never be in a great place financially, as it is a truly "by the people, for the people" kind of project. Not having big backers that may want to influence its directions is by design. That comes at a cost.