Gittip

I recently read an article about Gittip.

Link

I've never heard of it before, but essentially it's a way of giving a tip to all your favorite open source contributors.  I love this idea.  As a contributor, the whole spirit of open source is to write knowing that you won't get monetarily compensated, but you're giving to the community to make it better.  I love this altruistic mentality.  But would't it be nice to have a way to say thank you?

It's awesome to be able to get something in exchange for your hard work.  Having actual money is nice, but also having something as a way of knowing that your work is really appreciated and that the community wants you to continue.  And with the money, being able to continue, assuming that it's providing you some kind of supplemental income to be able to give up long stretches of time to contribute.

At the end of the day, it's about saying thanks.  There are other ways to say thank you, like finding the person and baking their favorite cake (might be creepy if you don't actually know them) or sending them that t-shirt they've been talking about (again I wouldn't recommend if you don't know them personally).  But giving a small tip is another simple gesture that goes a long way (and a better alternative if you don't know them).