Open Source Needs to be Financially Symbiotic
I’ve been laid off twice in the past year and a half trying to navigate my professional career through the moderate success that has followed 11ty. I don’t feel as though I’ve been particularly successful at it, to be frank. What I have felt is largely expendable.
I don’t blame any companies or individuals for those feelings—for me it’s representative of a larger problem with the incentives of open source software. This is further complicated by the influence of temporary and unsustainable ideas of “free” shaped by venture capital, but I digress.
In seven years, the 11ty project has undergone various levels of funding:
- After-hours side-project
- Full time employment-sponsored by one company
- Part time sponsored by one company
- Independently full-time community-funded
Each of this had their benefits and drawbacks; each a unique reflection of the companies that I was coupled to at the time (and most importantly: the economic environment of the funding of these companies).
Boundaries
Independent of funding, the raw truth about open source software development is that it can be very parasitic if you don’t set boundaries.
- Developers may place demands on your time in ways that are unhealthy and one-sided.
- Companies (even those with trillion dollar market caps) may use your software without investing appropriately into it (via developer resources or direct monetary contributions)… and may also have expectations that are unhealthy and one-sided.
It can be quite tempting to shirk the guardrails of healthy boundaries to pursue growth. Growth can unlock a lot of second-order things: power, influence, and sometimes money (here be dragons).
Regardless, the single throughline that is consistent for all four types of financial situationships I’ve been in is this: the further your job is from the direct bottom line and business needs of the company that you work for, the more expendable you are.
Truths
Eleventy received an overwhelming amount of support from individuals that believe in the project and for that I am so grateful. At time of writing the Open Collective has had 668 different financial contributors. Some comparisons gathered from Open Collective (in ascending order): Astro has 106 contributors, Solid 124, Jekyll 148, Preact 234, Svelte 497, Nuxt 530, and Vue 805.
But given the scale of these contributions, Eleventy wasn’t quite popular enough to pay one full-time staff/lead developer salary via our Open Collective contributions alone. If I were just starting my career fresh out of college (I’m not), this would have been an easier hurdle to clear.
Our sustainability fundraising goal reflected and included this truth ($6k recurring per month) and I understood that I would have to supplement with some kind of paid offering before the runway dried up: whether that was a SaaS product, Pro-tier, Paid support, or Consulting.
That’s when the fine folks at Font Awesome dropped in with an exciting opportunity that I believe will be a win-win for everyone (and not a repeat of the financially decoupled business models we’ve tried before): 11ty (the project) is joining Font Awesome (the company).
The game plan hasn’t changed—it’s been upgraded with the stability (and mentorship) of a well-established software business moving forward.
Next Steps
Again, to be very clear we’ll continue to develop and maintain the Eleventy open source project as before. I’m super excited and feel very lucky to get up every morning to work on Eleventy—which I think is a very rare feeling seven years into any software project.
I’ve updated all of the blog posts to reflect that we’re winding down our sustainability fundraising campaign. If you would like to wind down your personal individual recurring contributions—please feel free to do so. Do note that any existing and future Open Collective funds collected will continue to be spent to fund open source work for 11ty.
As always, if you have questions (even difficult or awkward questions)—please hit me up on Mastodon (or any other social media that I check less frequently 😅).
Previously
Feb 2018Introducing Eleventy, a New Static Site GeneratorJan 2020Now Deploying to NetlifyFeb 2022Full Time Open Source Development for Eleventy, Sponsored by NetlifyJun 2023The Next Phase of Eleventy: Return of the Side ProjectJul 2023Eleventy and CloudCannon: New Best FriendsMay 2024I Need Your Help to Make 11ty Fully Independent and Sustainable in 2024Sep 202411ty is Joining Font Awesome
Poster image by Sebastian Pena Lambarri
23 Comments
Patrick Grey
@zachleat Zach, I really appreciate how you are still trying to do the right thing in the face of all these headwinds. Hopefully, better ways of working for all can emerge from folk like you trying to do it differently. I'm proud to continue contributing to 11ty after the FA … Truncated
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@patrick Patrick, what an incredibly meaningful message to receive—I appreciate it probably more than you can know. It’s been a rocky couple of years ❤️
Hawk Ticehurst
@zachleat Huge congrats again!! If you’re able to share, could you further explain why you feel like this won’t be a repeat of previous models you’ve tried before? I’m still feeling fuzzy on what it means for a project to join a company
Eric
@zachleat Super apt hero image there.
Christian Alder
@zachleat Hope it goes well for you Zach! Regardless of the FA partnership, my minor monthly contribution won't be going anywhere. I'm excited to see where things go from here for you and 11ty ????
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@hawkticehurst we’ll be working on premium features and products for folks using 11ty ????
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@eric thank you for noticing this ????
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@christian thank you so much Christian! That means a lot! Onward and upward!
Ethan Marcotte
@zachleat So excited for you, Zach. For 11ty as well, of course, but/and I hope this really unlocks some peace of mind for you. Congratulations! ????????????
Eric Portis
@zachleat Sometimes I lie awake at night reflecting on the fact that we got CSS Grid because Bloomberg Terminals. There's got to be a better way. Thank you for navigating all of the rocky uncertainty and mismatched nonsense of it all, and trying to chart a better, more human… Truncated
Myles Lewando
@zachleat Really appreciate your openness. Congratulations and good luck!
Alistair
@zachleat Thanks for writing this, and I really appreciated the personal context. When ultimately 11ty is so tied to you, the details about how you're paid for your work makes it clear how good of a partnership this can be. I'm excited to see what more comes out of you a… Truncated
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@myles thank you Myles!
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@beep thank you so much Ethan! Somehow it’s easier to focus on the work when the work is your primary focus—weird
Hawk Ticehurst
@zachleat oooh psyched to see what y’all come out with in that case! ????
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@eeeps whew, yeah. Funding web standards is a next-level boss battle that somehow @igalia are navigating quite well
Jérôme Coupé
@zachleat Thank you for all the love, care and work you have put into #11ty over the years, and for your stewardship on top of that work. Wishing you all the best (including a smooth road ahead) with the new gig / formula ! 11ty
Mayank
@zachleat sorry if i'm being dense but could you maybe clarify a little bit more? if the answer to all of @nachtfunke's questions is "yes", then i don't understand how FA "bought" 11ty and how it's still "owned" by you. these seem mutually… Truncated
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@mayank @nachtfunke For sure. Owned: no. Directed: yes.
Mayank
@zachleat @nachtfunke this is the clarification i was looking for, thank you! and congrats ????
Thomas Michael Semmler
@zachleat @mayank thank you for helping out :D
Thomas Michael Semmler
@mayank @zachleat thank you, that’s what I wanted to know too.
Zach Leatherman :11ty:
@nachtfunke @mayank yeah—it’s no worries at all. Trying to be as transparent as possible so feel free to ask anything