An open source project the size of Lemmy needs constant work to manage the project, implement new features and fix bugs. Dessalines and I work full-time on these tasks and more. As there is no advertising or tracking, all of our work is funded through donations. Unfortunately the amount of donations has decreased to only 2000€ per month. This leaves only 1000€ per developer, which is not enough to pay my bills. With the current level of donations I will be forced to find another job, and drastically reduce my contributions to Lemmy. To avoid this outcome and keep Lemmy growing, I ask you to please make a recurring donation:
Liberapay | Ko-fi | Patreon | OpenCollective | Crypto
If you want more information before donating, consider the comparison with Reddit. It began as startup funded by rich investors. The site is managed by corporate executives who over time have become more and more disconnected from normal users. Their main goal is to make investors happy and to make a profit. This leads to user-hostile decisions like firing the employee responsible for AMAs, blocking third-party apps and more. As Reddit is a single website under a single authority, it means all users need to follow the same rules, including ridiculous ones like censoring the name “Luigi”.
Lemmy represents a new type of social media which is the complete opposite of Reddit. It is split across many different websites, each with its own rules, and managed by normal people who actually care about the users. There is no company and no profit motive. Much of the work is carried out by volunteer admins, mods and posters, who contribute out of enthusiasm and not for money. For users this is great as there is no advertising nor tracking, and no chance of takeover by a billionaire. Additionally there are no builtin political or ideological restrictions. You can use the software for any purpose you like, add your own restrictions or scrutinize its inner workings. Lemmy truly belongs to everyone.
Dessalines and I work fulltime on Lemmy to keep up with all the feature requests, bug reports and development work. Even so there is barely enough time in the day, and no time for a second job. Previously I sometimes had to rely on my personal savings to keep developing Lemmy for you, but that can’t go on forever. We partly rely on NLnet for funding, but they only pay for development of new features, and not for mandatory maintenance work. The only available option are user donations. To keep it viable donations need to reach a minimum of 5000€ per month, resulting in a modest salary of 2500€ per developer. If that goal is reached Dessalines and I can stop worrying about money, and fully focus on improving the software for the benefit of all users and instances. Please use the link below to see current donation stats and make your contribution! We especially rely on recurring donations to secure the long-term development and make Lemmy the best it can be.
Asking for donations is free work. The product is free, paying is optional. You aren’t being fleeced.
Lemmy is stable, and many people use it because the devs are Communists, and quite a lot of us are Communists here.
Yes, the devs are Communists. All governments are “authoritarian,” what matters is which class is exerting its authority. Socialist states have expanded democracy for the Working Class. I really don’t care if you have me tagged as “commie,” “pinko,” “red,” “tankie,” etc, whichever pejorative for Communist you prefer doesn’t change it. I don’t need your personal approval.
Where did I say anyone was being fleeced?
The population of lemmy is no longer majority tankies. Sorry but it’s not, just like the majority of the world isn’t tankies. You just had your bubble for a bit here. The mass majority are not tankies. Those that are are on defederated instances, lemmy.ml stays around because of the devs.
I didn’t say I was giving you my personal approval, I just told you what you are.
You stated asking for donations isn’t free labor. Lemmy is FOSS, it’s free, donations are a common part for funding FOSS projects.
Lemmy doesn’t force anyone into being anything, you seem to hold the view that the devs being Communists is holding back Lemmy as a whole, despite Communists not making up a majority of users.
The world is increasingly Marxist though, outside of the West, countries like Burkina Faso are now being lead by Marxists and Marxists run the largest economy in the world by Purchasing Power Parity.
I already know I’m a Communist, Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, etc. You just wanted to throw a pejorative jab, that’s all.
When it’s required to fund the development because the developers don’t operate without any other income… then it steps into the boundaries of not free. I have no issues donating to FOSS projects, do it all the time. I have issues with devs using the platform to spread propaganda and then ask for money to survive.
Apparently you don’t seem to visit any other instances and have your head in the sand. Plenty of people want to donate, but don’t want to be attached to people who outright spew russian and Chinese propaganda and act like the western world…which mind you is feeding them right now with their donations…is evil scum.
ROFL ok sure thing champ.
No you’re the lefts version of maga…
Again, your issues wrap around to not wanting to use free software made by Communists who have just as much power as you do to run their own instances. It’s entitlement.
I visit other instances from time to time, I don’t generally enjoy it. I stick mainly to the instances I do because I enjoy my time more that way, among other Leftists. The Global North is Imperialist, and China certainly is better, I won’t apologize for having those views.
Not sure what you mean by “sure thing,” you’re clearly being sarcastic but you don’t have a point you’re making.
And no, Communists are not anywhere close to “MAGA,” not the “Left’s version of MAGA” or otherwise. This is nonsense.
Being a tool for propaganda is not a communist… it’s being a tankie.
I never understood you tankies…why aren’t you living in china or NK or russia? Like if they’re these fantastic places what’s stopping you from moving there, since the west is a shit hole?
Hmmm let’s see …sees propaganda as truth, is ok with their brand of dictatorship, is fine with regimes murdering millions, completely ok with the gov offing people they don’t like, and likes to wash history…naa you guys are totally different.
Lemmy came about because Communists wanted to create an anticapitalist answer to Reddit. People can use it how they wish, including defederating from every Communist-adjacent instance and banning every Left winger if they want.
Secondly, Russia is no longer Socialist since the fall of the Soviet Union, I don’t speak Korean and don’t even think I can move to the DPRK even if I wanted to. I’d be down to move to China for a few years, but I have family where I am. When people say the Global North is Imperialist, they aren’t saying it sucks to live there more than everywhere else, but that the Global North only exists as it does through brutal exploitation of the Global South.
For your final round:
https://join-lemmy.org/docs/users/07-history-of-lemmy.html
No no it didn’t. Not a damn word of Communist is spoken here, and that’s written by one of the devs.
China is literally exploiting it’s own people and now Africa…the fuck you mean the north exists only through brutal exploitation of the south. The ussr did the same shit and so does NK… I’m baffled you think it’s the evil west is the only ones doing this…but I really shouldn’t be since your next answers speak volumes
So you think russia has a claim to Ukraine then?
So…still ok with a dictatorship…got it.
Well you’re favorite Communist killed millions…soo assuming you’re gonna tell me that’s propaganda and they where saints.
No they didn’t but yes majority…they also sided with the nazis and they killed my family during wwii like it was a second thought. And lend lease from the west…is the reason they didn’t turn into a conquered nation.
Please tell me how refuting shit like Holodomor is demystifying history…
That entire history was clearly written as a Leftist frustrated with Reddit’s censorship of Leftists and pro-US slant, it’s because the devs are Communists.
As for China, they are not “doing the exact same shit.” Same with the USSR, and the DPRK is insular, how could it exploit the Global South even if it wanted to? You don’t know what you’re talking about.
As for 1-5…
What do you mean by saying Russia “has a claim to Ukraine?” I don’t even think Russia is saying they want to annex the entirety of Ukraine.
A DotP is a term that originates with Marx, referring to a Proletarian government that suppresses the Bourgeoisie. The DotP is democratic for the proletariat. This is Marxism 101.
Can you tell me who my “favorite Communist is,” and how they “killed millions?” Politics isn’t a sports game, but if I had to pick a “favorite,” it would be Lenin.
More than 80% of all combat in World War II was on the Eastern Front. The Soviets never sided with the Nazis, they had in fact tried for years to convince the Western Powers to join the Soviets in a pact against Nazi Germany, as they hated each other. The West said no, preferring the Soviets and the Nazis to kill each other.
I have never once denied that there was a famine in the 1930s, just pointed out that the idea that it was intentional is seen as bogus even by western historians.