About me
My name is Jeff Galbraith (also known as @Hawkeye64). I have been programming since 1988, mostly in C++ and then web development. I have worked for companies such as Honeywell, Microsoft, and Vulcan.
At my current position, I write software that detects pipeline leaks using a combination of proprietary software with AI and ML.
In my spare time, I am a core member of the Quasar Framework team, and I am heavily involved in making UI Components and App Extensions. You may have heard of some of them:
- QCalendar
- QMediaPlayer
- QMarkdown
- and many more.
Sponsorship
I am a big believer in free and open-source (FOSS), and at the same time, I am a big supporter of sustainability. It’s nice to get something for free. But, if you are using someone else’s work to further your own work, and getting paid for that work, then you should consider paying, in all fairness, those that are part of your “supply chain”.
FOSS is always fraught with sustainability concerns. Socially, allowing so few people to perform so much work for so little compensation (or none at all) is inappropriate and does not scale. From a business perspective, it’s poor practice to rely upon suppliers who may burn out and disappear at any moment. This does nothing good for the longevity prospects of your organization and dramatically increases its risk profile.
Proprietary software is incredibly expensive, less flexible, leads to vendor lock-in, and is at least as likely to disappear without notice. 90% of software startups fail, taking their products and their code with them. The high cost, low innovation, and equal risk of mortality for proprietary software make it a less appealing solution when considering the longevity and sustainability of your own company. Free and open-source solutions are simply the better option.
There are several ways to sustain FOSS:
- Financial backing
- Contributing a. Reporting bugs b. Requesting features c. Fixing bugs d. Adding features e. Community involvement
Pick one that works well with you.
For businesses, I highly encourage you to pick #1. Thousands of hours have gone into QMarkdown. That’s time and money you saved from hiring a developer and writing such a component yourself.
For individuals and hobbiests, I encourage you more on the contributions-side of things (#2), but if you can, then #1 is also a good option. Small amounts by large numbers of people do add up.
Sign up for a monthly contribution: GitHub Sponsorship
Make a one-off contribution: PayPal