The issue of using open-source software for profit and not giving back to the community has been a contentious topic in the open-source world for a long time. Recent examples include WordPress with WP Engine and 37signals, Elasticsearch with AWS, and Redis, among others.
The increasing problem has led to a group of software developers and tech companies, mostly small businesses, coming together to form the Open Source Pledge. They are demanding that big companies profiting from open source contribute funding to support the developers working on these projects. At the very least, they should contribute a minimum of 2,000 per year per developer in their company. This funding can be directed to developers directly or to foundations overseeing the open-source projects.
The largest company in the Open Source Pledge group, Sentry, has revealed that they have 135 developers and contribute $270,000 per year to the open-source community, which amounts to about $3,700 per employee. While Sentry considers this amount minimal compared to their annual revenue of $100 million, it has a significant impact on the open-source community. Other companies in the group include HeroDevs, Antithesis, StackBlitz, Prefect, Laravel, and more.
In addition to financial support, the Open Source Pledge group has also come together to purchase billboards in the San Francisco area, a hub for the global IT industry. This move aims to catch the attention of CEOs, CTOs, and CFOs of large companies driving by and encourage them to support the open-source community.
TLDR: The Open Source Pledge group is advocating for big companies profiting from open source to contribute funding to support developers working on these projects, with companies like Sentry leading the way in financial support.
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