onlybits.org: a place to show off your hot FOSS bits

This is the story of how some lady using a variation of my username led to me creating a website for FOSS software developers to compete with an $18b company.

How it began

I use a website called f5bot to get alerts about my username slimsag on the internet, so that when people mention me or my work on Reddit, Hacker news, etc. I get an email letting me know. It’s been useful to see people asking questions or discussing my open source projects.

At the same time, I tend ot advertise my GitHub sponsors page somewhat regularly. I try not to be overbearing about it, but also just let people know: you can sponsor my FOSS work if you want to.

Then the spam began

Some lady adopted a variation of my username slimsag as her own Reddit username, which caused f5bot to pick up on it (it doesn’t do whole-word matches, but rather substring) - my inbox was getting notifications every day about this lady advertising her OF profile:

At first I was a bit put-off by these notifications: I don’t want this crap in my inbox every morning. But over time, I came to realize how much she is advertising her work and soliciting donations.. and I am not.

Announcing OnlyBits

It’s time for FOSS developers to stop living in the shadows! For too long people have been afraid to share that they too write nasty FOSS code on the side for strangers’ pleasure on the internet.

Another popular website’s creators make $4.46 billion USD per year, but how much do FOSS developers make per year?

onlybits.org aims to get FOSS developers a fraction of that.

How to use it

Registration is simple - you’re already registered. https://onlybits.org/username redirects to https://github.com/username.

For example: you can view some hot, steamy bits at onlybits.org/hexops/mach - but don’t forget to tip at onlybits.org/sponsors/slimsag.

To advertise, you can also use the OB logo and emojis - like this:

Enjoy!