[rolleiflex]

Not the author, don't know him, no connection – but I caught a glimpse somewhere on the blog that he is currently unemployed. As an open-source maintainer, I feel like it is my duty to plug him so he can perhaps get some patrons or donations, the blog is great. https://www.bookandsword.com/support/

He is also not a software engineer or in tech in any meaningful way, so his 'tip to total income' ratio is probably off the chart compared to, say, me.

As an aside, now that everybody is asking for 'tips' of some sort, it is getting quite difficult to figure out for whom these tips are essential (i.e. him) and for whom they are just gratuities. I wish I had a good answer for this.

[Zababa]

> As an aside, now that everybody is asking for 'tips' of some sort, it is getting quite difficult to figure out for whom these tips are essential (i.e. him) and for whom they are just gratuities. I wish I had a good answer for this.

That's a good point. On twitter, I see very often people asking for money for a surgery, an accident, or just in general. I feel like I see this way more often than before, but I don't have any hard data to back this up. Just like you, I don't have any good answer to that.

[AdamN]

Your online social milieu is likely getting poorer over time. In the olden days, online meeting grounds like Twitter were elite locations. Now they're commons. I notice this the most on Reddit where I'm sometimes reminded how many blue collar people there are (and also what a wide age range exists there).

[baxtr]

Yeah, that's a trend. I think it's also the main underlying reason why Google results are getting worse (worse for elites like us...).

[dfxm12]

I feel like I see this way more often than before, but I don't have any hard data to back this up. Just like you, I don't have any good answer to that.

Maybe your network is growing or, more realistically, the global pandemic we happen to be in is causing issues than normal. IMO, the answer to this would be voting for politicians who support a welfare system where an accident doesn't bankrupt you (regardless of things like employment status).

[pixodaros]

Thanks! I updated the link on the blog post and on my support page to point to my Canadian paypal account which is more accessible while I am overseas than my Austrian paypal account.

I think the issues funding open-source are very similar to the issues funding writing.

[aksss]

His blog had a mildly interesting post on rereading one of the SM Sterling novels, Against the Tide of Years. I really enjoyed those books, and in the comments it appears SM Sterling is actually there engaging, which is very cool!