65 replies

1. Erik Kroes ✅ Mastodon 5 min later

   @zachleat That's too bad!
   I hope it doesn't impact your employment 💚

2. fahru Mastodon 6 min later

   @zachleat just want to say thank you for all of your hard work on eleventy! :)

3. Andy Bell Mastodon 8 min later

   @zachleat @eleventy i wish set studio could afford to sponsor full time 11ty dev because we would in a heartbeat

   1. Pelle Wessman Mastodon 2 days later

      @andy @zachleat With the yearly budget for @eleventy on @opencollective being estimated at ≈$56k it's not too far off that we can all sponsor it collectively?

      1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 2 days later

         @voxpelli @andy @eleventy @opencollective Unfortunately, recurring contributions are currently at $43K which is pretty far from sustainable for a US-based salary (factoring in US cost of living and scary health insurance costs). That $56K number assumes some funny math about one-off contributions that I wouldn’t be comfortable relying on.

         1. Andy Bell Mastodon 2 days later

            @zachleat @voxpelli @eleventy @opencollective yeh ur gonna need double that at least, surely

            1. Pelle Wessman Mastodon 2 days later

               @andy @zachleat Right, at what level would it be reasonable to start to consider do you think?

               If done as self-employed it can be combined with other income as well – classes, consulting etc

               I guess already though a potential employer could opt to invoice the collective for time you spend on @eleventy, to offset the cost of employing you to work on it full time and without you having to take the risk personally

               1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 days later

                  @voxpelli @andy @eleventy hmmmmm—the problem is that it’s the bad combination of a lot of risk and a pretty big pay cut. I have some other bootstrapping ideas that I want to pursue and see if those pan out

               2. Pelle Wessman Mastodon 3 days later

                  @andy @zachleat Also, in case you haven’t seen, one can get payrolled by collectives that are hosted by the Open Collective Foundation (which @eleventy is) and that way get health insurance and such which I guess is important in the US: https://docs.opencollective.foundation/what-we-offer/employment

                  1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 days later

                     @voxpelli @andy @eleventy oh interesting—I was aware of the program but I didn’t know it included health insurance/benefits

         2. Boris Mann Mastodon 3 days later

            @zachleat @voxpelli @andy health insurance is around $1500USD per month / $18KUSD annually (could be much higher for a family), which might be helpful perspective for folks in Europe.

            Vancouver has average 1 bedroom apartment rates of $2KUSD per month / $24KUSD annually.

            That’s $42KUSD annually and we haven’t paid for Internet access yet!

            1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 3 days later

               @boris @voxpelli @andy yeah—I have a family and a house 😬

4. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 8 min later

   The most helpful thing folks in the Eleventy community can do right now is to take our Community Survey, which will help streamline our efforts to essential features and plugins!

   https://forms.gle/zFA4Jno1cfT8nt9J8

   Thank you!

5. elle mundy Mastodon 19 min later

   @zachleat @eleventy this is sad to read, but i hope eleventy finds another sponsor soon! thanks for all the work so far, it’s an incredible framework and i’m about to launch a new blog with it

6. Ethan Marcotte Mastodon 21 min later

   @zachleat 💜 💜 💜, Zach. I’m sure this was a hard post to write.

7. Stephanie Eckles Mastodon 22 min later

   @zachleat Ohh, that's rough for you, sorry that had to end! 💜 Sending good luck for finding some new significant sponsorships!

8. Jon Kuperman Bluesky 33 min later

   💜

9. patak Mastodon 38 min later

   @zachleat @eleventy Sad to hear the arrangement ended, but happy you got that full-time year to unleash 11ty 2.0. You're an example of how to maintain OS projects, and how to navigate the always changing landscape around them. Good luck for this next stage for the project. I hope you get new folks joining your efforts with the CTA to move non-core parts to community maintenance. And the best for you personally for what's next ❤️

   1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

      @patak Thank you Patak!! 🙌🏻

10. Aram Zucker-Scharff Mastodon 43 min later

    @zachleat @eleventy Ah, that's too bad. Do you think you'll ever return it to full time development?

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

       @Chronotope @eleventy not sure but I think that might require independently monetizing—it’s fragile to hitch your wagon to someone else’s monetization strategy

11. Christopher Kirk-Nielsen Mastodon 43 min later

    @zachleat Not a fun post but as always, your earnest writing is appreciated! @eleventy is a wonderful project that I hope can be sponsored once again, and if anything at least that we can all contribute to in smaller ways to push it forward.

12. Mike Aparicio Mastodon 45 min later

    @zachleat Appreciate all you do, Zach. ❤️

13. motionsuggests Mastodon 51 min later

    @zachleat @eleventy 💜

14. Bryan Schuetz Mastodon 51 min later

    @zachleat @eleventy What an amazing year 11ty had. I'm betting the years ahead will be great as well. Thanks for everything.

15. Roel Nieskens Mastodon 52 min later

    @zachleat I hope the shift from main to side project also brings good things!! 💖

16. Hidde Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy ❤️❤️❤️

17. Eric Portis Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy Happy for the year that was. Sad that it's ending. Continually, deeply upset about the mismatch between real value and where the money goes in our industry. But most of all, thankful for your persistence, principles, and vision. 🖤🎈

18. Private reply Mastodon 1 hr later
19. Tyler Sticka Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat Oof, sorry to hear about this change, Zach! I’m really impressed with how much you accomplished within that sponsorship, @eleventy is such an amazing tool

20. Lynn Fisher Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy Appreciate you, Zach 💚

21. depone Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat so sorry to hear the fulltime sponsorship ended. Thank you for all you are doing with @eleventy and for the web. Sending good vibes. How does this change affect your job/career prospects?

22. Max Böck Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy sorry to hear that. you and the community have poured a massive amount of work and love into eleventy and it shows. will continue to support the project!

23. Private reply Mastodon 1 hr later
24. Adam Stoddard Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy 💚💚💚

25. Evan Minto Mastodon 1 hr later

    @zachleat Really sorry to hear this. You've been doing great work Zach, and I hope you can keep it up as a side project.

26. Private reply Mastodon 2 hr later
27. Bob Monsour Mastodon 2 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy This answers a nagging question that I've had. I've had to report "no new releases" in the last several issues of the 11ty Bundle blog. That said, Eleventy will remain awesome thanks to your diligence and amazing work capacity. Perhaps others can step in to build a community of developers to take over some of what you've worked so hard to build.

28. Matt Stein Mastodon 2 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy I’m inspired by what you do with this project and how you go about it, regardless of how things change. Thanks for that, and please continue to rock.

29. Erik Vorhes Mastodon 2 hr later

    @zachleat — the end of an amazing year for @eleventy! Here’s to whatever comes next & to the continued success of Eleventy.

30. David Fitzgibbon Mastodon 2 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy Thanks so much for all the work you've been putting in! Hope this is only a minor setback in the grand scheme of things!

31. Nicolas Hoizey Mastodon 2 hr later

    @zachleat thanks a lot Netlify for the huge contribution of a year long full time sponsorship! ❤️

32. Phil Hawksworth Bluesky 3 hr later

    ❤️ Hoping that you can maintain balance, energy, and enough hours of sleep.

    From an immensely grateful and satisfied customer.

33. Phil Hawksworth Mastodon 3 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy The things you’ve managed to accomplish in that year!

    Huge thanks from a huge fan of both you and this invaluable project. Onwards!

34. Thomas Rigby Mastodon 4 hr later

    @zachleat@fediverse.zachleat.com @eleventy@fosstodon.org Such an amazing side project 🥰

35. Chadams Mastodon 5 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy Thanks so much for all of the hard work you have put in to this incredible project.

36. Ana Rodrigues (moved!) Mastodon 6 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy

    🧡 Thank you so much for all your work!

37. Matt Steele Mastodon 6 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished during this time. The taxonomy of OSS funding models you put together is a great reference, and should help the next person headed down this road. Best of luck!

38. Paul Everitt Mastodon 6 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy 11ty is very important to what I do, and Zach is an important voice for what I believe in (the web platform.)

    More than that, Zach's a kind heart and a funny poster. Let's see if we can all pitch in to find a way to make this work out.

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

       @pauleveritt Appreciate you, Paul 🙌🏻

39. Matthias Ott Mastodon 7 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy We appreciate you, Zach! 💚✊

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

       @matthiasott @eleventy Thank you Matthias! Likewise!

40. Chris Price Mastodon 10 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy 💚

41. Raymond Camden Mastodon 11 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy thank you so much for everything you've done

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

       @raymondcamden @eleventy Appreciate your support Raymond!

42. Thomas Michael Semmler Mastodon 16 hr later

    @zachleat @eleventy I am very to sorry to hear that. I hope you are doing alright! I am sorry this didn’t go the way you may have imagined it :/ your community admires you!

    I love eleventy and what it stands before. It has given me not only solutions technologically but it bald also given me invaluable connections and to a degree also community. And because of that I cannot help but also see the good in it. To me it feels like eleventy is coming home.

    1. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 2 days later

       @nachtfunke Appreciate your support Thomas!

       1. Thomas Michael Semmler Mastodon 3 days later

          @zachleat Always!

43. Zach Leatherman Mastodon 1 day later

    Really appreciate all of the kind words in this thread—they really mean a lot.

    I’ve learned an overwhelming amount running this project—and not just on the technical side.

    I’ve learned things about our industry, funding, and investment that have really challenged my views on open source—I’m still trying my best to process things and prune off cynicism from the truth.

    But regardless, y’all are amazing—I really appreciate every single one of you. Couldn’t have done any of this without y’all ❤️

    1. Paul Everitt Mastodon 1 day later

       @zachleat I can sympathize. I had a company that got several VC rounds “back in the day.” Once gave an "Open Source Business Models" talk at a VC conference. We were in Cathedral and the Bazaar.

       Got pushed out of the company I co-founded. Been an enlightening open source journey.

       I suspect you remain who you were before your episode started. I admire that. You're the champion of a view I hold dear, we've been lucky to have you fighting for it.

    2. Matthew Phillips Mastodon 1 day later

       @zachleat One of the biggest plus sides to the side-project route is that you are completely unencumbered by "support X" requests. You have more freedom to explore new ideas that haven't been tried before. Funding is a killer for originality; you are incentivized to make safe choices others have already made. In other words, I see a very bright future for Eleventy.

    3. Private reply Mastodon 1 day later
44. Michael Bluesky 8 days later

    Eleventy is my first choice for new projects. You do good work, Zach.

    1. Michael Bluesky 8 days later

       Here is a video of Eleventy vs adversity.

       https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8erKGwL/

       1. Zach Leatherman Bluesky 9 days later

          (amazing! go possum go!)