The Problem
I think it should be easier to make a living from your own creative projects. Particularly when those projects give more than they take. I am hoping ramblin.dev can help with that.
Where the name comes from
"Ramblin'" is an old American term for a freedom of travel, movement, and living — surviving through an informal exchange of efforts within a community. ramblin.dev is that same spirit, applied to creative work: the freedom to make what we wish for others, and to receive in kind.
"...all a human being is, anyway, is just a hoping machine, a working machine."
— Woody Guthrie, journal, 1942
My pie in the sky dream for ramblin.dev
Right now ramblin.dev is just me, but if it grows, the plan is to bring other creators in and share the upside.
In short, our project's profits would be distributed as follows:
- Creators first. Every ramblin.dev creator should be able to make a comfortable living doing what they love.
- ramblin.dev second. The shared resources that make it easier for ramblin.dev creators to launch and find an audience.
- Whatever you like third. Once the essentials are taken care of, creators spend the rest how they like.
This same ethos would apply to the core company as well. Specifically: no one would be paid more than 5x the lowest-paid person — hour per hour, across all forms of compensation. (The US average is 350x).
What I want to build
My bias is toward pro-social projects, which I think the world needs most right now. Projects that bring people together, support mental wellbeing, use open source software (FOSS) and transparent development.
The business models I like best involve people paying for software they value, or supporting the people making it because they want it to keep existing. The person using the software is who the work is built for.
How to help
If you share at least one of these dreams, I'd love your support in any way you can offer it. Such as using what I build, telling someone else about it, subscribing for updates, or backing me (someday us) directly.