[kiba]

We should consider public funding for open source projects.

Creating something for the benefit of humanity is great and all but ultimately, programmers need to eat.

[wang_li]

To paraphrase a quote from long ago:

"Public funding doesn't get you great coders, it gets you coders who are great at filling out government forms."

Getting paid to deliver a software product that someone wants advances humanity. Getting paid to make your own personal project provides jobs for politician's cousins.

[throwaway85825]

The problem is knowing what to fund. It's easier if the users would pay. Which is doable for commercial use.