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So, during the last site update article, a discussion came up talking about how those who work and write for this site should get paid for said work. I've always wanted to get us to the point where we could cut a check to the contributors of SoylentNews, but as it stands, subscriptions more or less let us keep the lights on and that's about it.
As I was writing and responding to one specific thread, part of me started to wonder if there would be enough interest to try and crowdfund articles on specific topics. In general, meta articles in which we talk deploying HSTS or our use of Hesiod tend to generate a lot of interest. So, I wanted to try and see if there was an opportunity to both generate interesting content, and help get some funds back to those who donate their time to keep the lights on.
One idea that immediately comes to mind that I could write is deploying DNSSEC in the real world, and an active example of how it can help mitigate hijack attacks against misconfigured domains. Alternatively, on a retro-computing angle, I could cook something in 16-bit real mode assembly that can load an article from soylentnews.org. I could also do a series on doing (mostly) bare metal work; i.e., loading an article from PXE boot or UEFI.
However, before I get in too deep into building this idea, I want to see how the community feels about it. My initial thought is that the funds raised for a given article would dictate how long it would be, and the revenue would be split between the author, and the staff, with the staff section being divided at the end of the year as even as possible. The program would be open to any SN contributor. If the community is both interested and willing, I'll organize a staff meeting and we'll do a trial run to see if the idea is viable. If it flies, then we'll build out the system to be a semi-regular feature of the site
As always, leave your comments below, and we'll all be reading ...
~ NCommander
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:03PM
Will implementing this kind of system actually be able to pay for itself? Also, would the opportunity cost be worth it?
If this site gets much bigger, then I could see something like this work but I don't think we are at that point yet. The size of the check for the contributors has to be large enough to cover the market value of their work. Think about what sort of quality the contributions (and the cost of editors going through them) would be if the size of the check is only developing country wages.
I might bake a batch of cookies and give most of them away for free to co-workers, but if someone wants to buy them (pay for my time and materials to make them) then the price is going to have to be above market value to actually be worth it or I'll resent that person for taking advantage of social pressure to be "nice".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2016, @01:51PM
TIP The "baking cookies" analogy is always a killer...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 17 2016, @02:21PM
Wouldn't cost anything but dev time, which is currently free.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.