March 11, 2026 at 9:16:33 PM UTC

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I have received A Lot Of Feedback (ALOF™) in the last week. The hardest and most insidious bits echo “Why does Open Source Thing need money?” which rhymes with “Why do you—a software developer working on Open Source Thing—need money?”

Trying not to read too much into it 😬

60 replies

Alan 5 min later

@zachleat wow, of all the things that went through my head with this news that didn't even cross my mind!
1. Zach Leatherman 9 min later
  
  @alansuspect it has been wild to say the least 😅
Zach Leatherman 12 min later

Reminded of this post https://fediverse.zachleat.com/@zachleat/113443741265717912
Ethan Marcotte 15 min later

@zachleat Oh, jeez. That sucks, Zach — I’m so sorry. You absolutely deserve support, especially for all the work you do.
1. Zach Leatherman 26 min later
  
  @beep Needing a paycheck while also giving stuff away for free can be confusing and complicated 😅 (Appreciate you, Ethan!)
Private reply 18 min later
1. Private reply 29 min later
Bob Monsour 27 min later

@zachleat I’ve read some of those and try to dismiss them quickly. Don’t let the bastards get you down. Onward!
1. Zach Leatherman 30 min later
  
  @bobmonsour I genuinely don’t deserve your help, Bob — but I so so appreciate it
phae 30 min later

@zachleat How dare you be compensated fairly for your time and effort to provide to me this tool, for free, that I use in the pursuit of capital. Rude.
1. Zach Leatherman 38 min later
  
  @phae I am the worst 🫠
Max Fenton 34 min later

@zachleat Appreciate you
1. Zach Leatherman 17 hr later
  
  @maxfenton thanks Max!
Burton Smith 39 min later

@zachleat you're getting paid??? I think I'm doing this open source thing wrong...
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @stuffbreaker every open source developer should be paid — radical thought, I know 😅
  1. Jared White (ResistanceNet ✊) 18 hr later
    
    @zachleat @stuffbreaker For some people, it really is a radical thought… 🤪
  2. Burton Smith 1 day later
    
    @zachleat maybe one day... 🤞
Stuart Langridge 42 min later

@zachleat it's just plain selfishness, is what it is.
Not you. The people accusing you.
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @sil the incentives have unfortunately manifested this situation 😬
  1. Stuart Langridge 20 hr later
    
    @zachleat ❤️
Charlie O’Hara 51 min later

@zachleat you’re trying to make your OSS sustainable? How DARE you. (Big 💕)
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @awfulwoman *runs away screaming* (❤️)
Chris Enns 1 hr later

@zachleat I'm sorry you get to be the example everyone holds up to support everything and anything around Open Source. I know you're (mostly) human and not just a keyboard connected to the internet. 💜
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @ichris really appreciate the kind words, Chris. Sometimes I *feel* like a keyboard connected to the internet 😅
Bastian Allgeier 1 hr later

@zachleat one of the first comments when I launched Kirby with a commercial license was: „Is it true that Kirby is not free!? If yes, you’ve just lost a customer“ I keep my fingers crossed that you can soon laugh about the feedback that you got. Open source is great, but it has also set some wild expectations how people should spend their time and energy without being properly compensated for it.
1. Max Fenton 1 hr later
  
  @bastianallgeier I was really mean to you and I have spent years making up for it.
  1. Bastian Allgeier 8 hr later
    
    @maxfenton 😂
2. Matt Wilcox 1 hr later
  
  @bastianallgeier the temptation to reply "You were never a customer though. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" @zachleat
  1. Bastian Allgeier 11 hr later
    
    @mattwilcox @zachleat Yes, it's hilarious but it's also quite a good summary of how many people actually seem to think about open source and the maintainers behind the projects. They still see themselves as customers with the same demands as if they had paid for the product.
    1. Matt Wilcox 11 hr later
      
      @bastianallgeier Yup, it's something I touched on a few weeks ago here. Open Source is misunderstood by most of the people that consume it. https://mstdn.social/@mattwilcox/116092689159875736 @zachleat
3. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @bastianallgeier so much funny money floating around via VC that it makes sense why folks are trained to think this. It’s almost systemically set up to exploit devs that are people pleasers 😅 *hides*
benschwarz 1 hr later

@zachleat
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @benschwarz classic 🏆 (I don’t want to look up how old this reference is)
  1. benschwarz 2 days later
    
    @zachleat it’s old enough to drive and drink
    1. Alan 2 days later
      
      @benschwarz @zachleat we recently did a rewatch, it still holds up.
Thomas Steiner 2 hr later

@zachleat Hang in there, and by now you hopefully have grown a thick skin. I wish this wasn't needed to survive, but sadly it is. Your work rocks and is greatly appreciated. Thank you! <3
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @tomayac thank you Thomas! 🙌
Jason Santa Maria 3 hr later

@zachleat Sorry that you have to see all that and try to float above it. You are awesome and deserve good things (including but not limited to a paycheck). ❤️
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @jasonsantamaria thank you Jason! I hope Loud Room is going well!!
  1. Jason Santa Maria 18 hr later
    
    @zachleat So far so good!
naz 3 hr later

@zachleat Sorry to hear! You absolutely deserve to make a living.
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @nazhamid we’ll make it work! 🙌
Erik Vorhes 5 hr later

@zachleat — oh man, what a bummer that you’re getting that stuff.
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @erikvorhes trying not to let it harden me 😅
  1. Erik Vorhes 1 day later
    
    @zachleat — tech needs joyful people. I hope it doesn’t!
evie 6 hr later

@zachleat i hope my criticism (which i mostly passed along through konnor) was productive! my stuff mostly comes from the position of not using 11ty but using software that's inspired by and sort of downstream of 11ty. i obviously want you to have a place to sleep though
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @ewie yes! there has been plenty of very good (not always positive) but constructive feedback too! I appreciate that!
Ste Grainer 12 hr later

@zachleat I have been remiss in giving feedback, so here goes:
11ty is amazing. Build Awesome is exciting. I’m looking forward to the future of the project, and I’m hopeful that you get fairly compensated for all the hard work you do.
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @stegrainer thank you so much ❤️
Jason Garber 18 hr later

@zachleat Keep getting that paper, buddy!
1. Zach Leatherman 18 hr later
  
  @jgarber I’m still here, making this thing work 😅
Hidde 18 hr later

@zachleat sounds like super entitled feedback. Of *course* Open Source Thing and person behind it need money. Keep up the great work, we support you!
1. Zach Leatherman 1 day later
  
  @hdv thanks Hidde!!
2. Aaron Gustafson 1 day later
  
  @hdv @zachleat Seconded.
  PS - I was really into their early records. You know, before they sold out. ;-)
  1. Zach Leatherman 1 day later
    
    @Aaron @hdv instead of record labels we need more OSS labels 😅
Mike Mathew 19 hr later

@zachleat
When I worked as a band director for 16 years before this exiting computer maths career, I would keep a Happy File. On the hard days, I would pull out notes from students, parents, and colleagues about how I had made a difference to them.
I hope your Happy File overflows…and you get compensated for all of your excellent, excellent work.
1. Zach Leatherman 1 day later
  
  @drumsensei appreciate you Mike! and such a good idea!
Tiro Typeworks 19 hr later

@zachleat The thinking about ‘free’ stuff is really backwards. I’ve had people contact me about potential commissions who think that because they plan to release the font under OFL that means I will charge less or donate my time to their project.
I have been kicking around an idea for a blog post about the economics of creating a typeface and then surrendering most rights to enable other people to use it at no cost. Provisionally entitled ‘It’s free, so it costs more.’
1. Zach Leatherman 1 day later
  
  @TiroTypeworks I would love to read a blog post with that title 👀
  1. Aleš Roubíček 1 day later
    
    @zachleat @TiroTypeworks I would love to read a blog post with that title in that type face.