

Ask HN:Is anyone from the community able to live strictly from donations? - zer0gravity

Hi, I have a problem. I find myself unable/unwilling to work on things that I don't consider important, and by important I mean things that can improve the human condition, that optimize in some way our existence on this planet, that deliver true value. At some point in the past this made me quit my job and never wanting to come back again. I had a couple attempts later but no use. I just couldn't take anymore the inefficiency, the misplaced or lack of interest, the greed or just plain stupidity. I could swear a lot of people don't have a clue what they are doing, what is the impact of their actions and don't really care. I know I may be no better and that I'm just too idealistic but this is what I feel. I also find it very difficult to join other projects even if I like the general idea. It just has to grow inside me somehow in order to make me act..<p>In the same time, the things I work on and do consider important I just want to give away for free. The only way I find acceptable to get something in exchange of the potential value that I provide is donations. So I was wondering if anyone of you guys manages to live strictly from donations?
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hath995
Tarn Adams, the creator of dwarf fortress, is the canonical game programmer
example.

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Mz
I came here to say dwarf fortress but someone beat me to it. I will also
suggest you look at The Wotch. It is a web comic. At one time the main author
was getting enough in donations for it to be their sole or primary source of
income. (I do not know the current status.) Another site that at least at one
time supported the author in spite of their longish list of limitations is
Hyperbole and a Half. Kind of webcomic-ish, kind of unique. She did not take
donations or use ads. She was only comfortable selling merchandise and, at
least for a time, that was her source of earned income.

