Sponsor ECI - GitHub will match your contribution

[TheDcoder]

  

Sponsor development of EasyCodeIt - GitHub will match your contributions

What?

A few years ago I started working on a project called EasyCodeIt, it aims to be a scripting language with a syntax similar to AutoIt but also work cross-platform (Linux, Windows, Mac etc.) along with few more cool planned features like multi-threading, compile to byte-code etc.

Who?

I'm a passionate AutoIt user and a frequent visitor to the forum, I've been visiting the forum almost daily for more than 7 years! I started my programming journey with AutoIt and today I work as a software developer with expertise in all things automation. I am also a user of Linux and I've been using it as my primary OS for around 3 years.

Aside from AutoIt I indulge in other programming language, both low and high-level alike. My other two favorite languages are C (great for low-level stuff and command line utilities) and JavaScript (great all purpose scripting language which runs anywhere).

Why?

The progress on this project happens on a snail's pace because of my work and personal life. Before 2020 I was working with multiple clients on long-term projects which left me with little-to-no time on hobby projects.

But then COVID happened and many businesses went into loss, which included my clients and myself by extension. Since then I've been working on and off with new clients but I've never had a stable source of income. In the past 2 years I've lost around half of my life savings, and due to this I've also been suffering from mild depression which makes me inactive, both mentally and physically.

So?

Yesterday I was contacted by GitHub where they informed me that they had launched the "GitHub Sponsor" program in India and that I was one of the first to be selected! So now I've decided to seriously start pursuing my dream of working on open-source projects and put bread on my table at the same time.

What do I get?

Excellent question! You will get the following:

1. A cross-platform programming language which follows AutoIt's simple principles
2. Regular progress reports (at-least once per week)
3. All code which will be published as open-source
4. A badge on your GitHub profile
5. Your name or nickname in the "Early Supporters" list in the documentation forever (optional, must donate $5 or more)
6. My eternal gratitude!
7. ...More?

Normally I charge $20/hour to my clients, but since this project benefits all of us and it will also serve as a valuable learning experience for me, I'll work 1 hour for $10! I promise to use the sponsor funds to take time out of my work schedule and work on EasyCodeIt itself. For transparency I'll be publishing regular (perhaps weekly) work reports with the following:

1. Number of hours I worked on EasyCodeIt
2. What I worked on
3. Sharing of code upon request

But wait! GitHub has a Matching Fund, and with that for a limited time and they'll match your donations 1:1! That means if you donate $10, GitHub will match your donation and they will donate a matching sum of an additional $10 from their pocket! That means I get $20 in the end!

Essentially you'll get 4x times the amount of work compared to my commercial work! So if you can spare the change, please do consider funding this project.

Let's do this!

Sponsor me at GitHub.

I recommend you to donate at-least $5 dollars as that will guarantee at-least an hour of work from me. And if you can afford it, donate as much as you want and take advantage of GitHub's matching fund.

If enough people donate we can make significant progress, maybe even a usable programming language!

Also please feel free to share your thoughts and discuss aspects of this, and any ideas you might have, I really appreciate your response.

[TheSaint]

Best of luck with it all bud. It seems promising.  

Don't forget me when you are rich and famous.

[Werty]

Uhh, so TheSaint donates $10,000 to you, github matches the donation, you get $20,000 ?

...and then give TheSaint his $10,000 back ?

[TheSaint]

23 minutes ago, Werty said:

...and then give TheSaint his $10,000 back

If only.

In reality he'd be asking me to donate again ... and a bigger amount.  

[Confuzzled]

GitHub is now owned by Microsoft, isn't it? Are they giving you a job offer? No strings attached open source development co-sponsorship? Sounds wonderful.

[TheDcoder]

@TheSaint Thanks bud. I promise to buy you a lifetime supply of Krispy Creme donuts after I become a millionaire

6 hours ago, Werty said:

Uhh, so TheSaint donates $10,000 to you, github matches the donation, you get $20,000 ?

Not so fast, there are two things that would get in the way:

1. GitHub only matches up to $5000 for each eligible "sponsored person"
2. They review each transaction to check if it is eligible for the matching fund, so stuff like this wouldn't happen

3 hours ago, Confuzzled said:

GitHub is now owned by Microsoft, isn't it? Are they giving you a job offer? No strings attached open source development co-sponsorship? Sounds wonderful.

I wish. This is not a job offer nor am I employed by anyone, this is just a community thing and GitHub is only providing a platform for developers to accept $

The GitHub Matching Fund is an initiative to encourage community funding, it's not something that will go on forever. Each sponsored person is actually only eligible for the first 12 months to get matching funds. And if I recall correctly they aren't accepting any new applicants to this fund.

[TheDcoder]

Hi everyone,

I am proud to announce that we have our first sponsor, they wish to remain anonymous but they will always have my gratitude

They have donated enough to fully fund 2 hours of development, and I have spent approximately the same amount of time working on ECI's parser again. I'm currently stuck at an issue with the parser, some of you may have noticed my new topic about it:

Spoiler

 

I've been trying to think of a solution but I haven't been able to come with up with any, but I hope to do more research this week. I will post any updates here next week