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@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ content:
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+publish_date: '2023-07-12 20:19'
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 # How we started to donate to Open Source at work
@@ -25,26 +26,27 @@ As you might have seen in the news, there have been a lot of articles over the
 years that Open Source software doesn't receive enough support, especially
 financially.
 
-At my employer [Contria GmbH](https://www.contria.ch) we use a lot of Open Source software:
+At my employer [Contria GmbH](https://www.contria.ch) we use a lot of Open Source software or freely
+available tools:
 
 - Ubuntu as the base OS for our VMs
 - Ansible to deploy the VMs
 - Nginx, PHP and MariaDB to run the applications
 - Vagrant and Virtualbox to set up a development environment
+- digwebinterface.com
 
-To just name a few and as well some tools provided by individuals for free. For
+Just to name a few.
-example digwebinterface.com.
 
 I would consider myself a Free Software enthusiast and read a lot of those
-articles mentioned above. So a few years ago I decided, I would try and ask if
+articles mentioned in the first paragraph. So a few years ago I decided, I
-Contria would be willing to donate to the various Open Source projects we use
+would try and ask if Contria would be willing to donate to the various Open
-to build and run our products.
+Source projects we use to build and run our products.
 
 When I spoke with the manager of the company about it, I wasn't actually met
-with a lot of resistance. I mentioned the problems a lot of Open Source
+with a lot of resistance. I mentioned the funding problems a lot of Open Source
-projects had with funding and asked if we as Contria might be wiling to do
+projects had and asked if we as Contria might be wiling to support them in this
-something in this regard. He quickly saw the reasoning behind the idea and was
+regard. He quickly saw the reasoning behind the idea and was willing to
-willing to continue with the project.
+continue with the project.
 
 > **Just like that?** \
 > _Yes just like that. Personally I expected more resistance and hope that it
@@ -52,43 +54,45 @@ willing to continue with the project.
 
 ## Getting started
 
-After the initial pitch it took a few years before we actually started with the
+After the initial pitch it took a few years, due to our workload, before we
-project. But in 2021 I was able to officially dedicate some of my time to the
+actually started with the project. But in 2021 I was able to officially
-project.
+dedicate some of my time to the project.
 
 I started to create a short list with software and projects we used and seemed
 worth to donate to. I focused mainly on non-profit organisations and
 individuals. For example, while we use Ubuntu it makes more sense to me to
-donate to Debian. Ubuntu is based on Debian and Canonical, the company behind
+donate to Debian. Ubuntu is based on Debian, and Canonical (the company behind
-Ubuntu, is already profitable.
+Ubuntu) is already profitable.
 
 In addition to the larger and more system related projects, I would like to
-start curating a list of essential packages we use in our products. We're not
+start curating a list of essential packages and libraries we use in our
-quite there yet, but I expect this to be something to grow each year anyway.
+products. So far we only donated to about two or three, but I expect this to be
+something to grow each year anyway.
 
-After I created the list I assigned a percentage to each project. Currently,
+After I created the list I assigned a percentage of a potential budget to each
-these are just 5 and 10%. Roughly weighed by importance to us and a bit by the
+project. Currently, these are just 5 and 10% per project. The percentages are
-size of the project. I did it this way so that the distribution wasn't based on
+roughly weighed by importance to our work and to a lesser extent by the size of
-the budget because when I created the list I didn't know yet how much money I
+the project. This way the distribution wasn't based on the actual budget
-was able to spend. It then turned out that the budget would be a **few
+because when I created the list I didn't know yet how much money was available
-thousand** Swiss Francs, I could freely allocate.
+for donations. It then turned out that the budget would be a **few thousand**
+Swiss Francs, I could freely allocate.
 
 > **That doesn't sound like much for a Swiss company with over 20 employees.** \
 > _Compared to the licenses we pay for proprietary software it's indeed not
 > that much. But then again, it's still a substantial amount and I'm quite
 > happy with it. Who knows maybe it will grow in the future._
 
-Last year we had about 40% left which I didn't allocate to a specific project.
+Last year we had about 40% left which weren't allocated to a specific project.
-We didn't just want to keep the money and were sure that there were very
+However, we didn't just want to keep the money and were sure that there were very
 important but "hidden" projects we didn't think of. Think OpenSSL for example
 which was one of the most prominent examples in recent years. \
-We first thought about giving the money to the FSFE or a similar foundation. A
+We first thought about giving the money to the Free Software Foundation Europe
-lot of them do a very good job, but we felt that some of them might be a bit too
+(FSFE) or a similar foundation. A lot of them do great work, but we felt
-political for a company to donate to.
+that some of them are too political for a company to donate to.
 We then found the [Open Source Collective](https://www.oscollective.org/) which was exactly what we were
 looking for. Projects can apply for funding at the Open Source Collective, and
-they would then distribute the donations between the projects. So any leftover
+they distribute the donations between the projects. So any leftover budget we
-budget we have goes fully to the Open Source Collective now.
+have goes fully to the Open Source Collective now.
 
 ## Problems when donating
 
@@ -96,16 +100,16 @@ For most projects it was very easy to donate to. Especially when they are on
 [opencollective.com](https://opencollective.com). Donating through PayPal works as well, but we prefer
 Open Collective.
 
-Some projects have regular bank accounts which you can donate to, for some this
+Some projects use regular bank accounts for donations, while this worked well
-worked well but was more involved for us because I would have to go through the
+for most projects, it was more labour intensive on our part as the donations
-financial department. In the case of the Drupal foundation we weren't able to
+had to be processed by the financial department. In the case of the Drupal
-donate at all because something was wrong with the address of their bank.
+foundation however, we weren't able to donate at all because something was
-Luckily they are now on Open Collective.
+wrong with the address of their bank. Luckily they are now on Open Collective.
 
 One project we quite like and use a lot didn't collect its donation, and it
 looks like the project might have become unmaintained. I'm not sure yet of we
-donate to it again this year. I really appreciate the work but if the money
+donate to it again this year. I really appreciate their work but if the money
-doesn't get used we probably give it better to a project that does use it.
+doesn't get used we rather give it to a project which does use it.
 
 ## Final thoughts
 
@@ -116,7 +120,7 @@ Since it's my employer I'm writing here about I can't make any predictions, but
 I will keep advocating for the use and support of Open Source and especially
 Free Software inside our company.
 
-For other people that think their employer might be able to contribute to Open
+For other people who think their employer might be able to contribute to Open
-Source projects, I can give the following advice: \
+Source projects, I give the following advice: \
 The main reason why we didn't do it before, was that we didn't have someone who
 carried the idea forward. So go ahead and give it a try :).