owocki
commented
7 years ago this discussion is worth a link
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/73dv1j/fund_open_source_software_with_these_5_platforms/
Some feedback I got on it from someone way smarter than me :
I'll offer some thoughts on the matter
We should be careful about using the word should :stuck_out_tongue:
"Open Source Funding should be decentralized"
First, I don't think it's totally obvious why this should be the case, just as it's not obvious to most people why decentralized money should even exist in the first place, since it's all quite complex
Perhaps instead "this should be that way", a more descriptive approach could be used, without as much value judgement baked in. "A platform which enables decentralized payments to support FOSS offers great benefits, such as a) no cream scraped off the top by intermediaries, b) censorship resistance, c) legal simplicity, d)... etc"
This is getting a little Public Relations Techniques 101 here, but I think it's quite relevant we, as the crypto community, often have the habit of proclaiming decentralization and disintermediation as a self-evident good, and to people outside the community it can sound a bit religious
Decentralized vs Centralized is also couched in very binary terms, where if it's not one, then it's the other. I think it's a bit more nuanced, and a wide spectrum of design decisions exists between the two.
In working out blockchain application ideas, I've had to form a habit of taking off the "this is cool tech, and aligns with my philosophy too!" cap, and put on my monocle and tophat :tophat: to ask the more difficult questions of "does this make sense from a business perspective?" or "does the benefit of having this system be totally decentralized outweigh the costs to the user experience and complexity added to the platform?". "Is there a centralized approach that would benefit the UX, platform simplicity, and cost less? Or perhaps, is there a hybrid approach?" (edited)
As I'm sure you know, playing your own devils advocate, as painful as it can be, is often a healthy and stimulating exercise. (edited)
These platforms are great and all, but they're all centralized and thereby, not the long term platform for pushing open source repos forward.
I majorly dig gitcoin, and I certainly dig your perspective and philosophy. I just don't want to alienate others outside the community with an air of elitism. To frame in "it's X ergo it's wrong" terms, even if the proposition is sound, can be alienating to those waiting to be convinced. (edited)
The functional programming community has a similar problem as well, often sounding elitist, making self evident proclamations, and shrouding the perceived complexity of FP with their wizard capes to fend off the uninitiated. The Elm community is trying to fix this, and doing a great job at it. Open hearts, enthusiasm, and kind tones are rampant in the Elm slack, and it has attracted a ton of people, and the community has become notorious for it. (edited)
Very similarly between the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities, where Ethereum saw the toxicity that could brew up in a void of chaos that was the BTC community, and works to actively fend that toxicity off
That's my .2 ETH, don't know if it came out as I would have liked. In conclusion, I just wanted to emphasize that...
"These platforms are great and all, but they're all centralized and thereby, not the long term platform for pushing open source repos forward."
wording things this way could alienate or throw some people off.
My response was way too ranty. Forming words via the tubes is hard. I imagine my rant above could have come off as judgey or condescending too, not my intention. More just a constructive criticism, since you asked. All in good :heart: @owocki Cheers (edited)
tra38
I think that as evangelists of the ethereum and web3 ecosystem, we may be living in an echo chamber in some ways. If you've lived & breathed blockchain for months, it can be easy to forget that the average internet user (even the average github user), doesnt have Ether, metamask installed, or even know why they can care.
What is the most efficient and impactful way you've found for telling people why they should care about understanding this ecosystem?