FUNDING.yml is a link with nothing to say; write the companion #89

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opened 2026-09-07 14:40:18 +00:00 by tiagoagueda · 0 comments

tiagoagueda commented

2026-09-07 14:40:18 +00:00

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Observation

write a proper funding.md companion file

What exists

.github/FUNDING.yml holds one URL. GitHub turns it into a Sponsor button on the mirror;
Forgejo has no equivalent, so the README and the wiki carry the button themselves (#79).

A link cannot say what is being asked for, what it changes, or -- the part that matters
here -- what it does not.

What the companion says

FUNDING.md at the root, linked from both the YAML and the README's support section.

What it will never buy, first, because that is the part that matters. No paid tier, no
licence key, no enterprise build, no limit that money removes, no feature held back and
sold separately, and nothing inside the application that ever asks. The AGPL guarantees
that for the code that exists; the file is the promise about the code not yet written, and
CONTRIBUTING.md already says a pull request breaking it is declined however good it is.

And that money buys no influence. It does not move an issue up the list, it does not
get a feature built, and it does not outweigh a well-argued bug report from somebody who
has given nothing. Stated deliberately: a project that sells priority has quietly become a
product with customers, and its roadmap stops belonging to the people who use it.

What it actually pays for. A domain, a machine that stays on for the public test
instance, bandwidth, backups, certificates -- and, partly, the time. No amounts and no
breakdown, because publishing one implies a threshold and a threshold implies that
something happens when it is missed. Nothing happens when it is missed; the project is
AGPL and self-hostable precisely so it does not depend on this file working.

What is worth as much from somebody who has no money, which for a great many people
looking for work is the honest position: a bug report -- and three of this month's fixes
began as somebody saying "this looks wrong on my machine" -- a translation reviewed by a
speaker, half an hour with a screen reader, or telling one person who needs this that it
exists.

A section for organisations. That the AGPL obliges a modified network service to offer
its source, that an organisation running this on staff time is depending on one unpaid
person, and that there is no SLA because there is nobody to answer a pager.

Where the money goes, exactly. To one person, through one link. No fund, no
foundation, no collective, and no contributor who has been asked to work for free on the
understanding that money might arrive.

The questions the file should answer, answered plainly: one-off versus monthly,
receipts and invoices, whether paying gets an issue looked at sooner (no), whether a
feature can be sponsored (not as a transaction), and -- last, and meant -- that somebody
who would rather give to a person in worse need should do that instead.

Classification

Documentation. Companion to #79, which made the button visible; this says what pressing it
does and does not mean.

## Observation > write a proper funding.md companion file ## What exists `.github/FUNDING.yml` holds one URL. GitHub turns it into a Sponsor button on the mirror; Forgejo has no equivalent, so the README and the wiki carry the button themselves (#79). A link cannot say what is being asked for, what it changes, or -- the part that matters here -- what it does not. ## What the companion says `FUNDING.md` at the root, linked from both the YAML and the README's support section. **What it will never buy, first, because that is the part that matters.** No paid tier, no licence key, no enterprise build, no limit that money removes, no feature held back and sold separately, and nothing inside the application that ever asks. The AGPL guarantees that for the code that exists; the file is the promise about the code not yet written, and `CONTRIBUTING.md` already says a pull request breaking it is declined however good it is. **And that money buys no influence.** It does not move an issue up the list, it does not get a feature built, and it does not outweigh a well-argued bug report from somebody who has given nothing. Stated deliberately: a project that sells priority has quietly become a product with customers, and its roadmap stops belonging to the people who use it. **What it actually pays for.** A domain, a machine that stays on for the public test instance, bandwidth, backups, certificates -- and, partly, the time. No amounts and no breakdown, because publishing one implies a threshold and a threshold implies that something happens when it is missed. Nothing happens when it is missed; the project is AGPL and self-hostable precisely so it does not depend on this file working. **What is worth as much from somebody who has no money**, which for a great many people looking for work is the honest position: a bug report -- and three of this month's fixes began as somebody saying "this looks wrong on my machine" -- a translation reviewed by a speaker, half an hour with a screen reader, or telling one person who needs this that it exists. **A section for organisations.** That the AGPL obliges a modified network service to offer its source, that an organisation running this on staff time is depending on one unpaid person, and that there is no SLA because there is nobody to answer a pager. **Where the money goes, exactly.** To one person, through one link. No fund, no foundation, no collective, and no contributor who has been asked to work for free on the understanding that money might arrive. **The questions the file should answer**, answered plainly: one-off versus monthly, receipts and invoices, whether paying gets an issue looked at sooner (no), whether a feature can be sponsored (not as a transaction), and -- last, and meant -- that somebody who would rather give to a person in worse need should do that instead. ## Classification Documentation. Companion to #79, which made the button visible; this says what pressing it does and does not mean.

tiagoagueda added this to the 0.3.0 milestone

2026-09-07 14:40:18 +00:00

tiagoagueda added the

documentation

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2026-09-07 14:40:18 +00:00

tiagoagueda referenced this issue from a commit

2026-09-07 14:40:51 +00:00

Say what the funding link means, and what it does not

tiagoagueda closed this issue

2026-09-07 14:40:51 +00:00