They are not just funding existing projects like Lemmy, they are actively encouraging new projects by providing funding for “open internet” style stuff.
Though yes you are right, it is different from directly hiring people, since if they did that, it would be very hard to relinquish direct control of the project. Corps can’t act solely for the common good, governments have that as their stated mission.
I’m fine with some funding for other people who are running things for public benefit. The difference is a meaningful one, since governments have rules about how they do contracting work. It ends up with companies that focus on government contracts that know all the rules and have the connections.
A couple of people running an open source project don’t have the same restrictions
I use brave, but only the search
Funding an existing project like Lemmy is different than hiring people to create a lemmy
They are not just funding existing projects like Lemmy, they are actively encouraging new projects by providing funding for “open internet” style stuff.
Though yes you are right, it is different from directly hiring people, since if they did that, it would be very hard to relinquish direct control of the project. Corps can’t act solely for the common good, governments have that as their stated mission.
I’m fine with some funding for other people who are running things for public benefit. The difference is a meaningful one, since governments have rules about how they do contracting work. It ends up with companies that focus on government contracts that know all the rules and have the connections.
A couple of people running an open source project don’t have the same restrictions