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Babel project is running out of money
The core team behind the open source JavaScript compiler seek corporate sponsors to fund the continued development of the project. Credit: Dreamstime
Despite being used by millions, the open source Babel JavaScript compiler project is running out of money. The Babel development team is now seeking financial help, particularly from corporate sponsors.
In a bulletin posted May 10, the Babel core team wrote that, since 2018, it has been doing a funding experiment to determine if full-time work on Babel can be sustained, leveraging the Open Collective community funding platform. “We’ve learned the answer might be no,” they concluded.
Creator deletes posts alleging mismanagement to blame
Tim Anderson Wed 12 May 2021 // 10:49 UTC Share
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The open-source Babel JavaScript compiler project is running out of money with big sponsors having pulled out, according to its core team. And its creator yesterday threw a spanner into the works by claiming on Twitter that he believed funds were misallocated.
Babel compiles modern JavaScript (ECMAScript 2015+) into code that runs on older web browsers. It can also compile JSX (syntax used by the React framework) and TypeScript, a typed superset of JavaScript. Using Babel is a huge benefit to developers trying to support multiple browsers on multiple platforms. Its GitHub repository has 39,000 stars and has been forked 4,800 times, showing its popularity.
Rafik / Getty Images
Despite being used by millions, the open source Babel JavaScript compiler project is running out of money. The Babel development team is now seeking financial help, particularly from corporate sponsors.
In a bulletin posted May 10, the Babel core team wrote that, since 2018, it has been doing a funding experiment to determine if full-time work on Babel can be sustained, leveraging the Open Collective community funding platform. “We’ve learned the answer might be no,” they concluded.
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To fully fund currently paid maintainers, the team needs at least $333,000 per year twice what the group is currently collecting. The team welcomes and appreciates the help of individual donators, but is looking for more companies to become corporate sponsors, alongside current sponsors such as AMP, Airbnb, Salesforce, and Gitpod. Open Collective and GitHub Sponsors are being leveraged as funding mechanisms. The team itself can be contacted at team@babelj