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INFERNUM1488**"People's money" in free development: how users and foundations finance independent projects** **Introduction:** Traditional financing of technology projects often depends on corporations, government grants or venture capital, which can affect their independence. However, there is an alternative - the concept of "people's money", when the development is financed by the users themselves, non-governmental organizations and charitable foundations. In this article, we will consider successful examples of projects that managed to get financing without the participation of large investors, as well as analyze why this approach works. **Keywords:** <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/OpenSource" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OpenSource</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Crowdfunding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Crowdfunding</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/FreeSoftware" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FreeSoftware</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Privacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Privacy</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/CommunityFunding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CommunityFunding</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/OSINT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OSINT</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/TechFunding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TechFunding</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Blender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Blender</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Godot" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Godot</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Signal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Signal</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Wikipedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Wikipedia</a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/OpenStreetMap" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OpenStreetMap</a>The concept of "people's money" in free development means the financing of projects directly by interested users, volunteers or independent foundations, without control by corporations or governments. This allows you to preserve autonomy, transparency and compliance with the interests of the community. **Successful cases of financing free projects** **1. Blender (Free 3D editor)** 📌 *How it was financed: * — The community bought the code from the previous owner (2002) through crowdfunding — Further development is supported by grants, user donations and sponsorship contributions 📌 *Result: * — Blender has become one of the most powerful free tools for 3D graphics **2. Godot Engine (Game engine)** 📌 *How it was financed: * — Donations on Patreon — Grants from Epic Games, Mozilla, Facebook — Crowdfunding on OpenCollective 📌 *Result: * - Fully open source engine competing with Unity and Unreal Engine **3. Signal (Secure messenger)** 📌 *How it was financed: * — Grants from the Freedom of the Press Foundation — Donations from users — Signal Foundation (supported by Brian Acton) 📌 *Result: * — One of the safest messengers in the world without ads and data monetization **4. Wikipedia (Free Encyclopedia)** 📌 *How it was financed: * — Donate users — Grants from charitable foundations 📌 *Result: * — An ad-free global source of knowledge **5. OpenStreetMap (Alternative to Google Maps)** 📌 *How it was financed: * — Grants from Mozilla, Microsoft, Facebook — Donate to the community — Campaign crowdfunding 📌 *Result: * — An open map used in thousands of applications **Conclusions** "People's money" works in development when: ✅ There is a real benefit to the community ✅ Transparent financing and autonomy from corporations ✅ Effective communication with donors This approach enables developers to create independent products focused on users rather than investors. **Epilogue** The concept of "people's money" in free development has proven its viability. Successful cases show that projects can exist and develop without the control of corporations, while maintaining independence and orientation to the interests of users. The more people support open initiatives, the stronger the ecosystem of independent software that offers transparent, secure and innovative solutions for everyone becomes.

Netopia EUNEW POST: Public funding alone can’t build a European Amazon. Challenges like scale, market dynamics, consumer preferences, and innovation investment make it unlikely. <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/Tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Tech</a> <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/Ecommerce" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Ecommerce</a> <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/EuropeanTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#EuropeanTech</a> <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/AntiTrust" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AntiTrust</a> <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/TechFunding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TechFunding</a> <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/MarketCompetition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MarketCompetition</a> <a href="https://eupolicy.social/tags/PublicPolicy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PublicPolicy</a> <a href="https://www.netopia.eu/why-no-amount-of-public-money-will-buy-a-euro-amazon/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.netopia.eu/why-no-amount-of-public-money-will-buy-a-euro-amazon/</a>

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