Help Fund Open-Wash-Free Zones

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2014/12/03/conservancy-supporter.html

Recently, I was forwarded an email from an executive at a 501(c)(6) trade
association. In answering a question about accepting small donations for
an “Open Source” project through their organization, the Trade
Association Executive responded Accepting [small] donations [from
individuals] is possible, but [is] generally not a sustainable way to raise
funds for a project based on our experience. It’s extremely
difficult … to raise any meaningful or reliable amounts.

I was aghast, but not surprised. The current Zeitgeist of the broader
Open Source and Free Software community incubated his disturbing mindset.
Our community suffers now from regular and active cooption by for-profit
interests. The Trade Association Executive’s fundraising claim —
which probably even bears true in their subset of the community —
shows the primary mechanism of cooption: encourage funding only from a few,
big sources so they can slowly but surely dictate project policy.

Today, more revenue than ever goes to the development of code released
under licenses that respect software freedom. That belabored sentence
contains the key subtlety: most Free Software communities are not
receiving more funding than before, in fact, they’re probably receiving
less. Instead, Open Source became a fad, and now it’s “cool”
for for-profit companies to release code, or channel funds through some
trade associations to get the code they want written and released. This
problem is actually much worse
than traditional
open-washing
. I’d call this for-profit cooption its own subtle
open-washing: picking a seemingly acceptable license for the software, but
“engineering” the “community” as a proxy group
controlled by for-profit interests.

This cooption phenomenon leaves the community-oriented efforts of Free
Software charities underfunded and (quite often) under attack. These same
companies that fund plenty of Open Source development also often oppose
copyleft. Meanwhile, the majority of
Free Software projects that predate the “Open Source Boom”
didn’t rise to worldwide fame and discover a funding bonanza. Such less
famous projects still struggle financially for the very basics. For
example, I participate in email threads nearly every day
with Conservancy
member projects
who are just trying to figure out how to fund
developers to a conference to give a talk about their project.

Thus, a sad kernel of truth hides in the Trade Association Executive’s
otherwise inaccurate statement: big corporate donations buy influence, and
a few of our traditionally community-oriented Free Software projects have
been “bought” in various ways with this influx of cash. The
trade associations seek to facilitate more of this. Unless we change our
behavior, the larger Open Source and Free Software community may soon look
much like the political system in the USA: where a few lobbyist-like
organizations control the key decision-making through funding. In such a
structure, who will stand up for those developers who
prefer copyleft? Who will make sure
individual developers receive the organizational infrastructure they need?
In short, who will put the needs of individual developers and users ahead
of for-profit companies?

Become a Conservancy Supporter!

The answer is simple: non-profit 501(c)(3) charities in our community.
These organizations that are required by IRS regulation to pass
a public
support test
, which means they must seek large portions of their
revenue from individuals in the general public and not receive too much
from any small group of sources. Our society charges these organizations
with the difficult but attainable tasks of (a) answering to the general
public, and never for-profit corporate donors, and (b) funding the organization
via mechanisms appropriate to that charge. The best part is
that you, the individual,
have the strongest say in reaching those goals
.

Those who favor for-profit corporate control of “Open Source”
projects will always insist that Free Software initiatives and plans just
cannot be funded effectively via small, individual donations. Please, for
the sake of software freedom, help us prove them wrong. There’s even an
easy way that you can do that. For just $10 a month, you
can join the Conservancy
Supporter program
. You can help Conservancy stand up for Free Software
projects who seek to keep project control in the hands of developers and
users.

Of course, I realize you might not like my work at Conservancy. If you
don’t, then give to the FSF instead.
If you don’t like Conservancy nor the FSF,
then give to the GNOME
Foundation
. Just pick the 501(c)(3) non-profit charity in the Free
Software community that you like best and donate. The future of software
freedom depends on it.