"I just hope somebody - don't know who yet - will step up. I mean, the IT scene is definitely not a poor society - I used to be rich through IT too - so is it really fair that I don't even have a legal place to sleep in, just because I can't sell myself anymore?"
You're selling yourself here, and extremely poorly.
You've fallen in to some sort of trap where you think that you should get to work on whatever you want, and things should magically be given to you (or so it seems). Life doesn't work like that. You have to figure out a way to have your basic needs taken care of first, then play time comes. Some people manage to get to a point where step 2 covers step 1, but you're not there.
Maybe you'll get there one day, but begging for money doesn't seem a sustainable way of making that happen. You'll be here in 3 months again even if someone gave you a boatload of money for an apartment or car, because you value "doing whatever and only whatever I want" over "providing for my own needs first".
As others have said, I'm surprised that you have no medical care in Germany because it's too expensive. My presumption was that some degree of medical care was available free of charge. Perhaps you've got some special disease which requires paid medical support only?
"You have to figure out a way to have your basic needs taken care of first, then play time comes"
I thought I was pretty clear about that. Coming up with a plan for basic survival (food, shelter, health, power, etc) comes before you decide to dedicate yourself to project/passion X.
Not once did I suggest that his survival was "playtime", but he seems to have substituted coming up with a basic life plan first, and instead has devoted all his time to "play" (stuff above and beyond basic survival needs).
He seems like a less-crazy version of the losetheos guy. Here's a bit of advice: When asking for donations, 1. Do not call your mother evil. 2. Have a way to receive money.
I'd say disconnected from reality. I found this on the "A New Beginning" post.
"I propose to put myself on top of that new hierarchy. I am a very good guide and councellor. I lift up instead of suppressing. I also know my limits (if there are any). I attack people, but only when necessary. After the change is done, there will be no more need for that."
Talented coder or not, this is someone in a lot of pain suffering some type of mental illness. My diagnose-over-the-internet license is only valid for the continental United States so I'll spare you the medical mumbo-jumbo but the persecution of seeing evil everywhere, the grandiose feelings of entitlement, the inability to function ... I'm afraid that living in a van down by the river isn't even close to rock bottom for this guy.
I feel sorry for him too, the world is a scary and nonsensical place when you can't trust your brain.
It sounds like you are in a hole that you can't get out of. Yet still you vow to never work on anything but what you want to work on. Part of me wants to cheer for you, but the other part of me wants to slap you on the face repeatedly.
Look, the fact that you want to work on your passion, despite what seem to be very considerable setbacks, is very respectable. But you're willing to beg, and to be homeless, for that? Is that why you're alive?
Cursing Germany for being somehow repressive of poor people? This to me is more indicative of the author than of anything about Germany. I think Germany is a pretty soft country, all things considered (as an American living in the Czech Republic, I'm there a lot, even going there tomorrow).
Look, you need to get a boring job and start trying to take part in society, at least to a point where you can begin to live on your own terms. I want to sympathize with you but something tells me you need more tough love than sympathy and cash.
The fact that your own mother doesn't support you - well, that must hurt. I'm sorry for that.
I wish you better fortune in the coming days. But you have to make it yourself.
If you want to spend your time doing work on principle, i.e. community stuff and not market stuff... Then don't be surprised you're in the position that you're in.
Why don't you just get a job? And don't say "because of my principles". Your principles are what got you here in the first place.
Finding a donor is unlikely. I mean, good on you if someone "steps up", but really? Choosing to commit to this statistically unlikely route also has practical implications: you are statistically fucked.
I'd say your ideals aren't that important if it's causing you to complain about your living conditions. That or don't complain.
I get it, being an open-source gypsy is quite the ideal lifestyle... until reality sets in. You quit a well-paying job at Google to work on something that is relatively obscure and doesn't generate an income stream. I have to ask: what did you expect?
You need to get over the idea that "selling yourself" is wrong. You have to sell yourself and your time to live comfortably in a capitalist economy, period. That could mean finding a company that is willing to pay you a salary to work on LuaOS full-time. Or it could mean getting a boring day job and working on your passion on the side.
Really, I have no sympathy for those who hold such an ideology and yet they ask for help from those who do "sell themselves" to survive. You're still enjoying the products of capitalism, but in a parasitic way that doesn't match up with what you produce for society (that last part is typically addressed via a "salary negotiation").
This guy is a sociopath. He has been the worst participant in the official Lua mailing list and even gone to the extend to swear to the language deg team members for not listening to his suggestions. (I trust they'd know if the suggestions where worth it or not).
I have rarely seen such a bad behavior in my life, I cant feel pity, sorry.
Lots of negativity here, and I can empathise with some of it. Here's a constructive suggestion, though: Why not frame this as asking for donations to your open source project? You need funds to continue working on it, that's all. (You might want to consider doing it through Kickstarter.)
Your suggestion would a much better way to go about this. As it is now, I've got absolutely zero sympathy for his situation. I mean, you don't work, and then grumble about having no money? Also,
>Someone in the IT scene should step up
Why? It feels like OP is asking us to support his life style, which I am not prepared to do. Want to keep working on your project? Throw it up on kickStarter. If people are interested, you'll get some funding. If not, well, maybe it's time to get a part time job rather than begging online. I mean, of the two, one allows you to retain dignity.
"without an apartment
almost without money,
totally without medical care" nobody has to endure these things in Germany's social market economy. I guess you are taking the route you are on because you feel like it's the right thing to do (to not live off the social system provided). But actually asking for money/charity/investment online is basically the same thing.
If you are mobile (no house, little debt) then go buy something like this ( http://www.landandfarm.com/property/0_acres_in_Iron_County_W... ). You could freelance 15 hours a week for 6 months to pay the entire thing off in full. Then you'd need maybe a few hours a month for food.
There are plenty of opportunities that don't require you to bend over to the man. They just require a bit of creativity .
Your story made me so angry, that I stood up from bed were I was reading some Hacker News before sleeping and went straight to the PC to write this comment...
1) None and by saying it I mean NONE has to live somewhere illegally in Germany. Especially if you are a German citizen, which I imply by your name.
2) In Germany there is something called social security. You get basic healthcare services, an accommodation and enough money for food. Go to the "Arge"
3) Letting someone pay for a hotel in which you can work on your own project? What is wrong with you?! WHAT?!
I mean begging for money just because you are too lazy, too anti-capitalism or too selfish is total bullshit. Just bullshit.
Man quits job, spends time on hobby, runs out of money.
Not a great piece of news, and nothing unexpected.
But the hobby he's working on may be of interest to other people. If I were that man, I'd focus my message on that: let's further the development of LuaOS! Let's start with providing some food, shelter, and electricity to the founder :) Such a stance might attract more donations, from right people.
What do he expect of his country? I think he is confused about what the word "freedom" means. It means that one is free to pursue what you want to without intervention, NOT (as he uses) the ability to do whatever you want without consequence. He wants to work on his projects, that is fine. But if he can't find a way for his hobby to make him money, then he shouldn't complain that it is somehow Germany's fault. That being said, go ahead a solicit donations. That shouldn't be wrong. I just have a problem with him complaining about not be willing to "sell himself." Most people have to work. He's lucky that he has a marketable skill. Get a job you like and stop complaining.
Finding a donor IS likely, but not like that. Very poor performance. I just would not even consider supporting someone after reading that kind of a post. It sounds like puberty. It sounds unreliable. It sounds stupidly stubborn and the facts are loose. And I wouldn't even say 'sorry', because I absolutely am not.
Are there any German's on HN who could speak to useful resources for this guy? Even in the US one could get foodstamps, welfare, medicaid so I have a hard time believing that Germany doesn't provide some sort of social net.
Does anyone know of good online resources for finding/receiving social welfare in Germany?
"I just hope somebody - don't know who yet - will step up. I mean, the IT scene is definitely not a poor society - I used to be rich through IT too - so is it really fair that I don't even have a legal place to sleep in, just because I can't sell myself anymore?"
You're selling yourself here, and extremely poorly.
You've fallen in to some sort of trap where you think that you should get to work on whatever you want, and things should magically be given to you (or so it seems). Life doesn't work like that. You have to figure out a way to have your basic needs taken care of first, then play time comes. Some people manage to get to a point where step 2 covers step 1, but you're not there.
Maybe you'll get there one day, but begging for money doesn't seem a sustainable way of making that happen. You'll be here in 3 months again even if someone gave you a boatload of money for an apartment or car, because you value "doing whatever and only whatever I want" over "providing for my own needs first".
As others have said, I'm surprised that you have no medical care in Germany because it's too expensive. My presumption was that some degree of medical care was available free of charge. Perhaps you've got some special disease which requires paid medical support only?