• NightOwl
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    1 year ago

    Lemmy instances are not a free service. Yet don’t have ads and instead rely on donations or are self funded. And then this app comes out with a subscription model to remove ads despite instances doing the heavy lifting of this space that has been contrary to the usual monetization model?

    I’m not sure this type of defense you make really applies in this situation. If it was a reddit app sure, but in the space of the fediverse it stands out as rather unusual.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I’m not defending anything. Simply pointing out that Lemmy isn’t a free service even if it looks that way for some (or many).

      I’m not sure who does the heavy lifting btw. It’s not easy to decipher whether running an instance or developing the cloud components or the mobile components is easier. Also the funding is a bit wonky at the moment. The core Lemmy development is woefully underfunded compared to some of the large instances. It’s likely to get better eventually but so far I’ve noticed that core development funding barely budged for the last month or two. Instances are vitally dependent on the core project.

      • NightOwl
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        1 year ago

        Yes, lemmy isn’t a free service So the argument to defend lemmy and give them money makes more sense when it comes to instances than it does for an app that shows up with a subscription model to remove ads.

        The subscription from sync is not one run directly by the lemmy instance that is not charging api calls, not showing ads to users, and not paywalling users yet taking on so much expense. Which is why I’m not really sure what role sync plays here from your comments, since sync app and the costs of hosting a lemmy instance seem like entirely different matters.

      • fuzzzerd@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        People are understandably reluctant to donate to the core Lemmy devs, but donating to an instance is a lot more reasonable to many folks so that’s why it’s unfolding that way.