Tidelift ✨

Bobby McDonald
Bobby McDonald

Posted on

Change in lifter receipt.

I apologize if this isn't the right place for this, but in the past when we received our invoices, there was a line item for each package we maintain, and the share of the total amount for that package.

I noticed my invoice was a bit different this month, so I looked at it, and this month there's a single line that just says "tidelift grant", while the receipt title is still "Itemized Receipt".

Did something change in how payouts are calculated?

Top comments (9)

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galtzo profile image
Peter Boling

If all your line items were replaced with a grant, it means that your projects generate zero income under the new algorithm, but Tidelift has decided to "invest" in your projects for at least another year, and so is funding the work with a grant. Essentially this is to allow them to sell subscriptions to, in our case, Ruby shops. I don't understand why they can't state this clearly.
CC @lyn @bobbymcwho

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joshsimmons profile image
Josh Simmons

Hi Peter,

We look forward to sharing more about the algorithm and the grants function in the coming months. We’re prototyping some things now, so we’ll have more to share once we’ve finished the prototyping process.

For now, the most comprehensive accounting of how pay is computed can be found here: support.tidelift.com/hc/en-us/arti...

To your specific question: how is it possible that the OAuth2 gem has a long list of “in use” gem versions if we don’t have any subscribers using the gem?

Thank you for raising this, because that is a bug! This “in use” report is based on global package stats, and does not filter on paying subscribers – which means demo data and trial subscriptions are included in that report. That report should be using the same data as the display that indicates OAuth2 needs subscribers, and we’ll correct that.

Stepping back a bit… Would you be open to hopping on a call sometime in the coming weeks?

I’d love to introduce you to the team and give you the floor to ask questions, share feedback, raise concerns, and hopefully come away with a sense of confidence that, even as we make changes and dial in our processes, we understand the only path to success for Tidelift is a path that requires us to help maintainers like you to be successful, too.

Let me know, I’m eager to connect :o)

In service,
Josh
Sr. Ecosystem Strategy Lead

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galtzo profile image
Peter Boling

Yeah, I'd like to have a discussion with Tidelift soon. So far the communication coming from Tidelift has made things seem a little shady. I don't understand why there isn't more transparency. I continue to hope Tidelift succeeds, but if I truly want that, then I have to criticize shortcomings. I'd like for this to work for small-time maintainers, not just the big-time (as in wall clock hours) maintainers like myself.

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galtzo profile image
Peter Boling

So not only is it a bug that you are showing the wrong set of gem data, but the copy is a lie? I just don't understand why or how this happens, and it concerns me. Was it an "intentional mistake", like "fake it til you make it"? Or was it a bad product requirement, or was it poorly implemented? If you can't own the root causes of failures with people who understand at a very deep level what makes a system work and how it is built, then it's problematic.

Check out which version of oauth2 subscribers are actually using 👀
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joshsimmons profile image
Josh Simmons

OK cool, I'll email you to get something scheduled! I really appreciate you speaking up, it is a gift and an opportunity for us to learn and do better. Likewise, we want this to work for all types of maintainers, especially the ones who don't have the benefit of a day job that supports their work.

Your point about root causes is well taken, and I think there's a common thread between this and another challenge we ran into recently. Happy to share more but TLDR, we did not have a clear map of copy that required updating as we rolled out product updates. When we started offering free trials, that kind of mapping would've made it clear that the copy on this page needed to be updated to reflect that the version analytics included a substantial number of free trials.

We're agreed that this isn't an acceptable experience and are organizing ourselves internally to do better.

Looking forward to chatting more!

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galtzo profile image
Peter Boling

Looking forward to it as well! Thanks for following up. Let's talk soon :)

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galtzo profile image
Peter Boling • Edited

Relatedly, the oauth2 gem has a very long list of "in use" gem versions. How is this possible if Tidelift doesn't have any subscribers using the gem?

Huge list of the gem versions in use by subscribers: tidelift.com/lifter/package/rubyge...

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Same gem says it has no income and needs subscribers: tidelift.com/lifter/search/rubygem...

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lyn profile image
Lyn Muldrow

Hi there Bobby! Thanks so much for your question. We've addressed this and associated payment issues for this month in a post, here: community.tidelift.com/tidelift/mo...

Please let me know if you have additional questions about your lifter receipt via email at lift@tidelift.com .

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galtzo profile image
Peter Boling

That blog post is not an adequate description of what happened. This is pretty depressing.