Asciidoctor funding campaign

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Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
Together, we’re working to shape the future of writing and publishing, particularly in the field of technical documentation. We want people to use open source not just because it’s the best software, but because it’s the best documented software.

We’ve come a long way. We have even bigger plans for the future. To continue making our vision a reality, we need to obtain funding for Asciidoctor.

Sarah and I have setup an account for Asciidoctor on BountySource’s new funding platform, Salt, to ensure the ongoing success and sustainability of the Asciidoctor project. We also want to be completely transparent about how the project is funded. You can read more details about this campaign and how it works on the Asciidoctor campaign page.

Salt will enable us to accept financial backing for Asciidoctor from both organizations and individuals and allocate the money the way we think best suits the project. The initial goal is to allow Sarah and I to work on Asciidoctor full time.

Asciidoctor has grown and matured substantially over the last three years. It’s now a critical component of documentation, especially in open source. In order to keep up with the project’s rate of growth, manage the Asciidoctor ecosystem as a whole, and be there to facilitate participation, we need to be able to dedicate more time and attention to this work. We also need to cover current and future infrastructure costs. The more money this campaign raises (on an ongoing basis), the more we can achieve, the more possibilities we can unlock and the greater the impact Asciidoctor can have.

By securing funding for Asciidoctor, Sarah and I can focus on keeping the Asciidoctor project operating smoothly and releasing components more frequently. We love running the Asciidoctor project and we love the community. We want to continue serving the community and doing what we love to make a toolchain writers have always wanted.

Let’s make it happen!

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to respond. We’ll give you an opportunity to comment before we announce the campaign on other channels.

Cheers,

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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

abelsromero
I think it's a good idea and I've always been amazed at the amount of time you put into the project.
Personally I'm an adept to Kickstarter and I have no problems putting money in things I believe in, or just helping others achieve their goals, even if I get nothing in return or things are not clear.
However, in Kickstarter, some common compains arised by users are about money spending, some people does need to know which is the final destination of money. So, adding a description of what is the use of the money in the goals helps, for instance, how many hours you will dedicate, will the money be used  to rent an office, hire some assistance, etc.

Now, in a more personal way, I'd prioritize "Establish a visual identity", I want T-shirts.
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
Abel,

Thank you for your feedback. And thank you for being the first backer. We didn't expect support to come from inside the core development team, but you can be sure we're grateful for both your dedication and your support! 👍

I forgot to say in my original message that BountySource is sort of like Kickstarter for open source projects.

>  I've always been amazed at the amount of time you put into the project. 

Hopefully that shows how committed we are to the project and our vision. While Sarah and I could go out and find work doing other things, it tends to pull us away from being able to focus on the project. And the project needs focus. As we reviewed the goals of the project and looked over the open issues, we came to the conclusion that Asciidoctor deserves our undivided attention rather than playing “second fiddle”.

Right now, the money is primarily for covering basic needs (i.e., salary). I prefer to avoid talking about hours because, in my experience, it inhibits creativity. When I say “half the week” in the description, I mean half of all time we can reasonably put in. More than likely, that's a lot more than what most people consider to be part time work...and consistent with the way I've always worked. I can try to be more clear about that in the description.

After we clear the amount Sarah and I need to cover basic needs so we can run the project, we'll be sure to discuss the next steps for how the money is distributed. We are committed to being transparent about all aspects of it. We believe that open source funding should be diverse so that no one sponsor has unfair influence over the project. In fact, funding does not imply influence. Everyone always has equal chance to comment on the issue tracker and discussion list. That's where the decisions are made.

Thanks again!

-Dan

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 2:15 AM, abelsromero [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
I think it's a good idea and I've always been amazed at the amount of time you put into the project.
Personally I'm an adept to Kickstarter and I have no problems putting money in things I believe in, or just helping others achieve their goals, even if I get nothing in return or things are not clear.
However, in Kickstarter, some common compains arised by users are about money spending, some people does need to know which is the final destination of money. So, adding a description of what is the use of the money in the goals helps, for instance, how many hours you will dedicate, will the money be used  to rent an office, hire some assistance, etc.

Now, in a more personal way, I'd prioritize "Establish a visual identity", I want T-shirts.


If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3360.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
NAML



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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
In reply to this post by abelsromero

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 2:15 AM, abelsromero [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
in a more personal way, I'd prioritize "Establish a visual identity", I want T-shirts.

I agree! Managing that process is going to be one of Sarah's initial areas of focus.

Cheers,

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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

graphitefriction
Administrator
In reply to this post by abelsromero
Abel,

Thank you for being the first Asciidoctor backer  The visual identity is my first priority as well (T-shirts FTW).

-Sarah

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 2:15 AM, abelsromero [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
I think it's a good idea and I've always been amazed at the amount of time you put into the project.
Personally I'm an adept to Kickstarter and I have no problems putting money in things I believe in, or just helping others achieve their goals, even if I get nothing in return or things are not clear.
However, in Kickstarter, some common compains arised by users are about money spending, some people does need to know which is the final destination of money. So, adding a description of what is the use of the money in the goals helps, for instance, how many hours you will dedicate, will the money be used  to rent an office, hire some assistance, etc.

Now, in a more personal way, I'd prioritize "Establish a visual identity", I want T-shirts.


If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3360.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
NAML

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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
And thanks to John Ericksen for being the second backer!

Cheers,

-Dan

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 4:50 PM, graphitefriction [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
Abel,

Thank you for being the first Asciidoctor backer  The visual identity is my first priority as well (T-shirts FTW).

-Sarah

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 2:15 AM, abelsromero [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
I think it's a good idea and I've always been amazed at the amount of time you put into the project.
Personally I'm an adept to Kickstarter and I have no problems putting money in things I believe in, or just helping others achieve their goals, even if I get nothing in return or things are not clear.
However, in Kickstarter, some common compains arised by users are about money spending, some people does need to know which is the final destination of money. So, adding a description of what is the use of the money in the goals helps, for instance, how many hours you will dedicate, will the money be used  to rent an office, hire some assistance, etc.

Now, in a more personal way, I'd prioritize "Establish a visual identity", I want T-shirts.


If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3360.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
NAML




If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3365.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

johncarl81
Thank you Dan and Sarah for creating such a vibrant, welcoming and positive community.  Best of luck getting funded!

John

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 5:54 PM, mojavelinux [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
And thanks to John Ericksen for being the second backer!

Cheers,

-Dan

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 4:50 PM, graphitefriction [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
Abel,

Thank you for being the first Asciidoctor backer  The visual identity is my first priority as well (T-shirts FTW).

-Sarah

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 2:15 AM, abelsromero [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
I think it's a good idea and I've always been amazed at the amount of time you put into the project.
Personally I'm an adept to Kickstarter and I have no problems putting money in things I believe in, or just helping others achieve their goals, even if I get nothing in return or things are not clear.
However, in Kickstarter, some common compains arised by users are about money spending, some people does need to know which is the final destination of money. So, adding a description of what is the use of the money in the goals helps, for instance, how many hours you will dedicate, will the money be used  to rent an office, hire some assistance, etc.

Now, in a more personal way, I'd prioritize "Establish a visual identity", I want T-shirts.


If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3360.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
NAML




If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3365.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
NAML



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If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p3366.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
To unsubscribe from Asciidoctor :: Discussion, click here.
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
In reply to this post by graphitefriction
More thanks are in order.

Thank you Jérémie Bresson for being our first Pull Request Backer! Super cool! Pull Requests are the life blood of progress and you're getting it flowing!

Also thanks to Alejandro Revilla and Thibault Duchateau for supporting us too.

We'll be announcing the campaign on Twitter and other social networks on Monday. I already turned the original message in this thread into a blog post on asciidoctor.org.

No doubt about it, working with this community is my dream job.

Cheers,

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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
In reply to this post by graphitefriction
Even more thanks are in order! And now we're really starting to see that green bar move (p.s. I love green bars, so motivating).

Thanks to Guillaume Schiebel and Jim Carlson for being our first Docs Backers! Amazing! Of course, we are all about docs here, so we just love it when we get to spend time writing and improving them! Thanks Guillaume and Jim!!

Thanks to Bartosz Majsak for being another R&D Backer! We'll have some money to start rebuilding the labs we blew up already and more for the ones we'll surely blow up soon :)

Also thanks to Jim Moore, Adam D., jamroks and one anonymous backer for supporting us as well. Let's keep the green bar moving. We want to keep tackling issues!

Cheers,
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
In reply to this post by graphitefriction
Another week, another round of thanks!

I want to start off by thanking Jim Allen (my father) for being the first Innovation Backer. Innovation is the engine of a technology revolution and, thanks to Jim, that engine is fueling up.

A lot of the careful attention I give to writing was passed on to me by my father. He taught me at an early age to look critically at writing, from sentence structure to word choice. He viewed writing as your reputation on (at the time) paper. In other words, you are what you write. I still believe that today. As Matthew Butterick once said, “the written word is by far the most consequential human invention.” We strive to give that invention the utmost respect and to amplify it.

I want to thank Guillaume Grossetie for being our second Pull Request Backer. Guillaume may have been thinking about the pull request he's sent that are still outstanding o_O. His support will certainly free up my time to get them merged! \o/

I'll also point out that Guillaume recently became the second largest source code contributor to the Asciidoctor ecosystem ahead of the original creator, Ryan Waldron. (See http://asciidoctor.org/contributors/) While this certainly isn't a competition, that's a sign of a major accomplishment. Thank you for your participation and support, Guillaume!

Thanks to Peter Ledbrook for being our third R & D Backer. Moving forward means blowing things up. Peter's support helps us mend the walls so our neighbors don't see that we aren't wearing any pants!

Additional thanks go to Rei and Bernard Labno for being Q & A Backers. 👍

I want to finish off by giving updates related to this campaign. Sarah has been working on mockups for the new Backers page on asciidoctor.org to showcase your wonderful support. If you'd like to give feedback, you are more than welcome to do so. Otherwise, just know that she's hard at work to make this page happen and it's coming.


One of the goals we mention on the campaign page is to establish a visual identity for the project. I know a lot of you have been waiting a long time for this component. We are fortunate that a designer (yes, a real one) has come forward to help. The best part is that the design process (as messy as it is) is happening in the open, keeping to the Asciidoctor principles.


Once the process is complete, we plan to use some of the funds to compensate the designer for at least as much (likely more) than what we would have paid on a site like 99designs.com. Working in the open has tremendous value and we want to reward it.

That's all for now. Thanks again to everyone who has supported the project in one way or another (which is all of you)!

Cheers,

-Dan

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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

Tom Swan
In reply to this post by mojavelinux
Dan,

FYI: The link in your message is broken.



AsciiDoctor is great. I use it so much now I don't know how I managed before!

Tom
www.tomswan.com
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator

On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 7:30 AM, Tom Swan [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
AsciiDoctor is great. I use it so much now I don't know how I managed before!

Thanks Tom!

FYI: The link in your message is broken.

Google finally turned off the old profile links. Lesson learned: never trust a Google profile URL to live forever. I've since updated my profile.

-Dan

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Dan Allen | @mojavelinux | https://twitter.com/mojavelinux
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

willwade
the salt.bountysource link is down - is it just me?!
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
The application seems to have had an outage. It appears to be back up now. This is not the first time I've noticed this issue. I will issue a complaint to BountySource.

-Dan

On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 8:17 AM, willwade [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
the salt.bountysource link is down - is it just me?!


If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
http://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p5138.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
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NAML



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Dan Allen | @mojavelinux | https://twitter.com/mojavelinux
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

dustypomerleau
In reply to this post by mojavelinux
As someone who only recently discovered Asciidoctor, I'm very impressed by all the work that's already been done.

Now that it's available, would you consider signing up to receive donations via GitHub Sponsors? I realize you already have a mechanism in place for donations, but heavy GitHub users are more likely to donate to projects if they can see and manage their donations in that one interface. They are also more likely to visit your repo than your donation page. I recently donated to Homebrew after years of having it in the back of my mind, simply because I saw the sponsors link on their repo.

Dusty
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Re: Asciidoctor funding campaign

mojavelinux
Administrator
Dusty,

The Asciidoctor protect receives donations via OpenCollective (see https://opencollective.com/asciidoctor). This money is used to make working on the project daily sustainable for Sarah and I, as well as pay for critical infrastructure for the project. We use OpenCollective because it aligns closest with our values and the values of the project. GitHub Sponsors recently announced integration with OpenCollective, so I will look into enabling that integration.

Best Regards,

-Dan

On Fri, Feb 7, 2020 at 12:24 AM dustypomerleau [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:
As someone who only recently discovered Asciidoctor, I'm very impressed by all the work that's already been done.

Now that it's available, would you consider signing up to receive donations via GitHub Sponsors? I realize you already have a mechanism in place for donations, but heavy GitHub users are more likely to donate to projects if they can see and manage their donations in that one interface. They are also more likely to visit your repo than your donation page. I recently donated to Homebrew after years of having it in the back of my mind, simply because I saw the sponsors link on their repo.

Dusty


If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below:
https://discuss.asciidoctor.org/Asciidoctor-funding-campaign-tp3359p7599.html
To start a new topic under Asciidoctor :: Discussion, email [hidden email]
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NAML


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Dan Allen | @mojavelinux | https://twitter.com/mojavelinux