White Paper: Contribution-Based Governance for Developer Communities

4 points by ff12wq111 2 days ago

Hi HN! I've been thinking about why developer communities are controlled by corporate boards instead of the developers who create the value.

This white paper explores a new governance model where: - Every contribution (posts, code reviews, helpful answers) earns "Stars" - Stars = voting power on platform decisions (features, policies, algorithms) - Community votes on everything from tech stack to moderation rules - Transparent, democratic process with public voting records

The core insight: developers deserve platforms where their voices actually matter in decision-making, not just engagement metrics.

I'd love your thoughts on the governance mechanisms, potential abuse vectors, and whether this could work at scale.

AMA

asdffdasy 2 days ago

because the board does one thing devs don't know how: bring donations. (or so they say, sometimes they just fleece, like recently with gnome)