5/3/2026 at 8:47:48 AM
If you use Clojure for your business, please consider funding this effort and also directly developers who work on software that you use. It makes for a sustainable ecosystem.The Clojure community is very mature and incredibly nice, so things are not bad as they are, but they could definitely be better.
I try to set aside a portion of my business revenue (I call it a "sustainability fee" in my P&L) and spread it among the authors of libraries that I use. It's not much for each author, but if everybody did this, many authors could work on open source libraries full time.
by jwr
5/3/2026 at 11:39:52 AM
what needs funding is clojure core, Clojurists Together is a nice effort to try to fill a gap but what my business needs, and other business owners tell me they need, is for the core language (clojure and clojurescript) to not feel like it is falling apart. I want to invest my money in targeted, specific high value problems and get leverage on my money by sharing the cost with other business owners who need the same issues fixed. Until such a vector exists, the next best thing (for my business) is to fund a few key maintainers directly via github sponsorship. But because it is indirect and not outcomes-driven, the money amounts will be smaller. My business can afford to invest more than the $2400 per year that we have been donating since the release of Electric. My business has employed 4 devs for 5+ years, I can find more budget for investments in Clojure. Businesses pay for things (unlike individuals). We want to pay. We want our key dependencies to thrive. But there is no vector to invest in the specific core issues that would benefit my business to improve. And this makes me sad because over the last few years I find myself leaning more and more away from Clojure, even repelled (as if by some invisible force), instead of leaning in.by dustingetz
5/4/2026 at 11:48:39 AM
What do you mean by "falling apart"?Clojure is the most stable and robust language I've ever used, and I've been using it in production for 15 years now.
by seancorfield
5/4/2026 at 10:26:48 AM
Well, you can fund individual developers on GitHub (like David Nolen), which I do. I would also gladly fund the core, although I do not feel it is "falling apart", quite the opposite in fact — I am very happy with what it provides and how it is maintained. My business is based on it.by jwr
5/3/2026 at 3:46:51 PM
Cognitect is a holding of NuBank (since 2020 I believe).Doesn't that mean the core developers are now funded by NuBank?
Isn't it in their interest that 'the core language (Clojure and Clojurescript) to not feel like it is falling apart'?
And what do you mean with falling apart?
I'm new to Clojure, so the above is a genuine question.
by uxcolumbo
5/4/2026 at 11:14:06 AM
There is no falling apart. This guy just tries to spread this narrative every two months or so, idky. Check out latest dev call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngyvDkZA3o0by lgrapenthin
5/3/2026 at 4:27:31 PM
Given that software is composed of a hierarchy of dependencies, I would like to see a funding approach that works at the dependency tree level to support an entire tree or sub tree. There is a huge freeloader problem where business don't contribute any support for their core dependencies. I wonder if there is a role for an organization that could act as the interface for corporate support at the dependency tree level. It could offload maintainers (or fund them) to handle certain compliance requirements and provide an official sanctioned entity for purposes of corporate policies. There should be a way to garner support broadly for risk management and specifically for security in the corporate context.by millettjon
5/3/2026 at 12:31:17 PM
What's core issues are you thinking of?by thom