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Eugen Rochko

The past few days have extracted a heavy toll from me. While it's nice to see your work finally taken seriously in the mainstream, the 12-14 hour workdays I've had to pull to handle everything is anything but...

214 comments
xirclebox

@Gargron ... It's appreciated!

There are a few of us that want to help make the website more #accessible since more people are migrating over from bird land.

xirclebox

@Gargron ... anytime. keep up the good work! I know it's not easy and often feels thankless, but the increase in signups proves you've got something great here.

Dave Lane 🇳🇿

@Gargron we appreciate your efforts, Eugen - keen to ensure we help you find a sustainable level... let us know if there's anything we can do to help bring that about!

Shawn Hooper (he/him)

@Gargron Thank you for your hard work. These are exciting times.

morettiphd

@Gargron Need your expertise... how do I find people with interests in news, sports, journalism, history, China and more? No offense to the developers, AI folks and computer scientists, but that's not my crew, so to speak. Help!

Dawn Howard

@Gargron You are doing the country a giant service. I speak for many many people when I say, your intense effort is really appreciated!

Better Days 💪🏾🏀 🗑️🔥

@Gargron If there are tasks you think might be delegated to others to take the load off yourself, please post a "to do" list and perhaps some of us can lend a hand

Thanks for all you do here

Jeena

@Gargron I'm not quite sure what kind of work you have to do, but the key more often than not is delegation. Either to specific individuals or even closing a specific instance for new users and pointing to all the other instances.

DR. SURFERCHIC

@Gargron

I emphasize. We appreciate you and your team's hard work. I suspect the drove of twtr refugees will keep coming. Hang in there.
#mastodonrocks

lord pthenq1

@Gargron
Add more mastodon instances to the list of instances you promote so we can share the load

Mr. Funk E. Dude

@Gargron thank you. I plan on donating soon. You've more then earned it.

Larry Anderson

@Gargron What you've done is amazing. Thank you for everything.

Scott Feeney

@Gargron Appreciate your hard work. Kinda surprised you don't delegate more of the work at this point. Not enough Patreon support? Anyway, take care of yourself too!

Hibiscus

@Gargron I wish you a lot of strength for these exiviting times.

John Francis

@Gargron 12-14h days are unhealthy, don't keep doing that. Mastodon will still find its path if you work at a healthy pace.

Ernie Smith

@Gargron I’m sorry to hear this. How can end users help you given this state of affairs? Obviously the goal is not to stress you out.

JBMagination²

@Gargron hoping you're okay; thank you for all the work you've done to make this an exciting platform!!

Enrico Hondius

@Gargron I'm really impressed by the good work you are doing! But keep looking after number one.

AlisonW ♿🏳️‍🌈

@Gargron I know that me installing my own little instance won't make a real difference there, but having had the trials of making Mastodon work myself I can reasonably understand your position. Have a good rest and drink plenty of water!
(oh .. 02:41 here. Guess I should take my own advice)

Johan Empa

@Gargron
What you've done the last five years is impressive. I hope you can get some rest soon, and that the Fediverse can fund a few people to lower your workload to a reasonable level.

Daveag

@Gargron thank you for the hospitality and hard work.

Brian Drell

@Gargron So sorry it’s been hard. Hoping things get a little easier soon!

Eurekama

@Gargron thank you for your hard work, we really appreciate it. :blobcatglowsticks:

Karen Froehlich

@Gargron I’m wishing you a good and restful sleep! Thank you for all you do.

Charles Gaba

@Gargron I just signed up as a basic Patreon supporter FWIW. Thank you.

Virtue signal 💉💉💉🇺🇸 🇺🇦

@Gargron It is paying off for the community. We can see the results!

Thank you!

KVVAA

@Gargron any thoughts of renaming posts into pawoos or trumpets - going by the logo! Hey even tusk sounds good. Let’s keep those tusks going!!!!

Eugen Rochko

I rarely talk about how tough this job can be, since I feel responsibility to only associate positive things with the project. But it is a lot of responsibilities, and a lot of stress, for what can sometimes feel like inadequate pay.

Better Days 💪🏾🏀 🗑️🔥

@Gargron Put a budget together for adding team members then we'll have a monthly target to hit in donations to give you some relief

Mr. Funk E. Dude

@Gargron I can’t think of a better way to stick it to both Twitter and Musk than by becoming a monthly donator.

I'm glad I became one today.

My deepest, thanks to you for creating this and putting in all the hard work that you do. I honestly wish I could’ve given more. You deserve it.

For anyone else that reads this, consider becoming a monthly Patreon. Membership levels start at $1 a month.

patreon.com/mastodon

Ukraine War Bulletins and News

@Gargron Yeah but you’re the Elon Musk of Mastodon. So, there is that…

KVVAA

@Gargron thank you for all the work you’re doing. It’s not going unnoticed, that’s for sure!

MrCopilot

@Gargron Financially I can help so little at the moment beyond my tiny annual patreon membership. However if there is any thing else I can do, I'd love to help.

Side note, your work is greatly appreciated, Thank you.

patreon.com/mastodon

Eugen Rochko

I do software development, devops, accounting, customer support, project management, product design, public relations, and moderation for 36K per year...

Seth Lazar

@Gargron flipping heck yes that isn’t enough…

Dave Lane 🇳🇿

@Gargron even though Patreon has its issues, I'm going to support your efforts there. Many others should do the same. And when a better FOSS platform emerges to replace Patreon, we'll be primed to jump to it instead.

Bruce :kirby:

@Gargron You definitely deserve a much higher wage than that, my man

Dallin

@Gargron would spreading the word about your Patreon help with the compensation aspect of things? patreon.com/mastodon

Brian Siana

@Gargron just donated on Patreon. Thanks for your work.

KVVAA

@Gargron let’s put some optimism!!!! Yeah - you do need additional help, you have no idea how many people are going to jump ship to Mastodon!!!!! Soon $$$ won’t be a problem, but it’ll be staffing. You’ll have plenty of people trying to work for Mastodon!!!!!!!!

Johannes 🌻

@Gargron thank you for all the hard work. Comparing OpenCollective and Patreon, which one is the better platform for you as a receiver of contributions?

Mr. Funk E. Dude

@Gargron for anyone that reads this and wants to help, consider a monthly donation thru Patreon.

Monthly membership starts at $1.

patreon.com/mastodon

Brian Drell

@Gargron I just became a sponsor. I hope more of us in the #twitterexodus will do the same.

Alan Langford

@Gargron Consider a donation / pay what you can subscription model. opencollective.com has a pretty decent system for this and I'd happily send a few bucks your way to make things more worthwhile.

Heidi Li Feldman

@Gargron I just signed up to support you through Patreon. I encourage everybody who has recently come over to #mastodon to join me. You have close to 1000 patrons now, not nearly enough. Folks, you can donate a buck a month. If enough of us do this, we can make a real difference to somebody who has made a huge difference for all of us. #gratitude #twittermigration #twexit #neuhier. Here’s the Patreon link. patreon.com/mastodon

Steve G

@Gargron I just joined and really don't know my way around. Nevertheless, I want to say thank you for managing this site. I think it's a public good and appreciate the hard work.

Eugen

@Gargron professionalize the organization which will scale in the future and ensure decentralized sustainable development. Introduce effective monetary support, which makes it easy for people to give you and the mastodon org not only kudos but also cash. Signal could be a good example how to make it.

Screenshot from Signal Messenger monetary support options
aswin

@Gargron Just became a gold sponsor (hope it helps). I have a software company that specializes in all of things you just mentioned. Happy to help / support in whatever way possible. Feel free to slide into my DMs if you need any help. Great work on this btw!

Ole V. S. Mortense 🇩🇰

@Gargron Thank you, for doing whjat you do, Despite being paid insultingly low for what you do. Maybe you shouldn't carry the Entire Load by yourself, tho... Nobody should carry The enrtire burden of a business on thier own shoulders. that'd kill a man after a while.

Jackson Palmer

@Gargron Just let me know if there is anyway I can help.

Bob Morris

@Gargron That's a lot of different responsibilities... All at once too.

Grant 🇺🇦ArmUkraine🇺🇦

@Gargron I need to check out what's going on with my CC tomorrow. But I will be supporting this important work. Thank you

Incognito ergo sum ⚔️

@Gargron you are doing great work, thanks for amazing service!

Paul Weber

@Gargron because of the money: hope i can help by donating! And will look if I can take over some work - I got some relevant Skills!

bird

@Gargron I’m infamously schizophrenic at this point so all my money is coming from the Australian government currently. I hope you’ll enjoy this small donation and that you get the support you deserve.

Aarne Granlund

@Gargron I am considering a monthly donation through Patreon. This place is very #wholesome

corbeaucrypto

@Gargron Well, damn! What can we do to help? Donate? What else?

Sidinator 🎶

@Gargron Well, as far as I can see, you are doing a Fantastic Job 😀 👍

Buntnuk

@Gargron 🙏🏻
Thanks for your work and efforts
Thanks for providing an alternative platform!

Marc Kaulisch

@Gargron This is hard. I wonder whether it is possible to generate amounts of money for this project that it can adequately pay developers and infrastructure, and avoid the normal platform business.

spaceotter :mastodon: 🏳️‍🌈

@Gargron obviously get some rest. i know im not alone in saying we appreciate your hard work. perhaps in due time mastodon.social and mastodon.online will grow to be managed by a small group or entity of some sort. in any case, rest up & take a load off

Eva Pavlikova

@Gargron you really do a fantastic job. Apart of the signal this is another nice example that such a big impact projects should be owned by the community, non-profit or foundation with the focus on impact rather the profit.

I really love the feature with @signalbot to easily donate in app (and I donate).

Sreedev Krishnakumar

@Gargron Thank you for all the work you are putting in to create a better internet!

Dred

@Gargron If you can think on anything that we, the users, could do to help, just send a toot. Many enthusiasts are eager to help in any way :]

Tucker Teague

@Gargron I'm sure you're paid far less than you deserve.

Heidi Li Feldman

@Gargron Your passion and care for the project is crystal clear. Do feel free to blow off steam; it won’t detract from all the positivity.

Diana Umpierre, AICP, GISP

.@Gargron - can people coming here donate to support you and your team?

Megan Lynch (she/her)

@Gargron Is there anywhere people can make one-time donations (or at least ones that are not auto-pay)? Some of us want to help, but have uneven income so it's hard to do Patreon.

iRalph

@Gargron I appreciate everything you are doing!!

skry

@Gargron Thank you, and sorry!

I'll try to find the tip jar and pass it around.

AnnEst

@Gargron I am not 100% sure that people know about your Patreon for monetary support? Maybe it could be an idea to advertise for it more often and let people know that if we all want to have a community which is sustainable and working without burning out the main devs, we have to all chip in. A small contribution is a contribution 😀 Would some advertisement be considered as a possibility, or is it a no-no? (Sorry not much experience with running a SoMe platform, obviously…)

Matthew Moore, JD MPH

@Gargron you are appreciated! Hope you can get some rest in the near future

Central&Western Archive Social

@Gargron Hearing you, have had similar experiences myself. Hats off to you as they say in English, and "kia kaha" (stay/be strong) as we say here in Māori. Have huge appreciation of what you have achieved in a safe space for us to come to.

Pack

@Gargron As someone who wore many hats for too many hours of the days running a non-profit org, I thank you for all the tremendous effort you're pouring into this.

Aside from donating, (which I strongly encourage everyone joining here to do), is there anything else any of us can do to help lighten the load?

Hang in there!

Mike Swanson

@Gargron Pretty amazing what’s happening right now. Can’t imagine being in your shoes. Congratulations, I’m Sorry (happens to be a great album by Gin Blossoms).

Nathangao

@Gargron I think the fact that many people have put their ships into this port in the storm says a lot about the value of what you do. We all appreciate it.

I imagine there's a lot of us who would like to help with small jobs. Wonder if a call for volunteers and donations would help, realizing that that's work too.

Luca Hammer

@Gargron Thanks for talking openly about these things.

Nick McCurdy

@Gargron Anything we can do to help? I’m especially interested if it’s code, documentation, or support related.

Parents For Future :verified:

Dear @Gargron, thanks for all you do, — you definitely deserve more support, also financially!

Just posted this on the bird site, hopefully some more people will chip in...

"Let that sink in: #Mastodon Founder, CEO & lead developer Eugen Rochko @Gargron does software development, devops, accounting, customer support, project management, product design, public relations & moderation for 36K per year.
💸 patreon.com/mastodon 🙏"

twitter.com/parents4future/sta

Dear @Gargron, thanks for all you do, — you definitely deserve more support, also financially!

Just posted this on the bird site, hopefully some more people will chip in...

"Let that sink in: #Mastodon Founder, CEO & lead developer Eugen Rochko @Gargron does software development, devops, accounting, customer support, project management, product design, public relations & moderation for 36K per year.
💸 patreon.com/mastodon 🙏"

Jeff Messer

@Gargron As someone who is growing to appreciate Mastodon more and more each day, I'm asking you sincerely...stop working so much. Things are already working well enough that there are many thriving communities, and in this potentially important time of transition in social media, it's extra important that you think about your own well-being even more so. I highly encourage you to assign yourself 8 hour days, and then put it away. The work will be there tomorrow. :blobcathug:

Vinnie (Any)

@Gargron
Please take care of yourself. And thank you for what you've built here. 💚

maique :prami:

@Gargron Thank for for all the work you’ve done for us, and happy you made it to this point.

Luis Pinto

@Gargron As much I appreciate your work, I wouldn't want you to jeopardize your mental health because of this wonderful thing that's happening. Please take a break, your own well being is more important than anything else.

Kevin Koo Seng Kiat

@Gargron thanks for your work on Mastodon. We appreciate it. I know it might be disheartening to see Twitter sold for a huge sum (USD 44 bil) and Jack Dorsey trying to launch a decentralised and federated type of social media network called BlueSky. That reminded me of Mastodon. So you were ahead of the curve. Maybe it's time to look into raising funds and bring this to the next level.

Didier Malenfant

@Gargron Is there any way you can start grooming others so that you can delegate some of that load at times like this?

George Jones :emacs: :orgmode:

@Gargron Is it time to separate development and operations? Maybe set up easy-install AWS images and some instructions on how to operate?

I've seen "the tragedy of the commons" play out over 40 years time and again: BBS systems, FTP archive sites, Usenet etc ... and as ex-CompuServe and AOL person I had some responsibility for the first "Eternal September"

Difference now is that we have distributed architecture, OSS and scalable cloud servers.

Maybe even charge small $ to support ops?

Arno de Vries

@Gargron i cannot code or anything tech but willing to help you in anyway. Be it €€ or communication tasks. Already donated through Patreon.

goincyber

@Gargron Wachstumsschmerzen
Keep up the good work

Carlton

@Gargron I’m a dab hand with code and cloud infra if you require any volunteeers- thank you for your service!

Milonguero Recumbentado 🇺🇦🇪🇺🇳🇱

@Gargron I really really appreciate your work and I hope people are easy on you and understand a bit of patience is needed in this stage.

Richard George

@Gargron We appreciate all you're doing, and how tough it is to scale systems this fast. But please, look after yourself! Avoiding outages or slowdowns may be impossible, but this isn't a startup that'll run out of cash or confidence if you don't keep it running 24/7. Mastodon will continue to succeed even if you're forced to take a breath, slow signups or whatever, even if we as users have to show some patience for a while!

Bafo do Norte

@Gargron hundreds of 🇵🇹 users are coming m8

David Rodriguez Jr.

@Gargron All I can say is thanks for giving us this tool.

princelysum

@Gargron Pretty sure that's why god invented staff. Newcomer, like the vibe, so well done you

Becs #TeamPlanet

@Gargron thank you for the space that is provided and all the hard work you do. I can imagine it’s overwhelming as well. Please take care of yourself.

Bart Ensink

@Gargron hang in there! (And get help, this is only the beginning I fear)

Josh Holden 🏙️ 🏝

@Gargron Relax. Breathe. And know that we are with you.

Andrew Stroehlein

@Gargron I’ve really only been here a day, but I’d like you to know that I appreciate your work. I’m amazed at what’s happening here. I hope you can find time for yourself and take a break once in a while - though I fear things will get both harder and better before they get easier and better.

Simeon Nedkov

@Gargron Hang in there! You are a force of good. It’s on us to keep you going on all fronts.

Michael Marten

@Gargron It is very much appreciated, but: alle denken nur an sich, keiner denkt an mich! You need to be good to yourself (nobody else will be able to do that), even if it means some things happen a bit slower. It’s hard, but I have the mental and emotional scars to show that burnout is not a desirable outcome.
I don’t know if there’s something relative newcomers like myself can do to help…?

John

@Gargron Thanks! I can’t wait to see what’s next for Mastadon.

Karen Strickholm

@Gargron My dear, you are giving birth to an elephant, that's not gonna be easy! It takes a major person to create something major. Just pace yourself. And THANK YOU for this major new platform you've created, I for one am so grateful.

Jason :BlobhajPrideHeart:

@Gargron It sounds brutal man. Thanks for your dedication to this service!!! And god if you need help, even if it's someone to help do SRE style monitoring, I'm happy to assist.

katzenberger

@gargron
Your hard work is very much appreciated. Maybe, though, upgrading the infrastructure behind mastodon.social is counter-productive. It just leads to the next wave of new arrivals assuming that this is "the" instance to register at, ad infinitum. Maybe limiting the account count on your instance would give you peace of mind, and ultimately distribute accounts more evenly among instances.

Sriram "sri" Ramkrishna - 😼

@Gargron much love and support to you from all of us - I can well imagine that it's been a very difficult week for you. Do you have some kind of patreon page so that we can help with any finances?

Leonie :pb: :verified_queer:

@Gargron I get that. If you feel like you need a day off, take a day off. Your health is more important than what you've created.

One-Striper

@Gargron Thanks for your work on the project.👍

Ms NOLA_Leyda

@Gargron Thank you. Here are 2 cats to show appreciation.

Deephoenix

@Gargron Thank you for all the time you put in. I’m very glad to be here.

Evan Greer 🏳️‍⚧️

@Gargron how can we help? Where's the best place to donate, etc?

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