Ever wondered what it costs to be an Open Source Software (OSS) developer? I decided to break down my monthly expenses to give you a glimpse into the financial side of my passion for OSS. While I don't do it for the money, sharing this information might help those considering a similar path.

Monthly Expenditure Overview

Tools I Invest In

1. GitHub Pro: $4 USD/month

   • Essential for managing numerous repos with added features and higher limits.

2. DockerHub Pro: $5 USD/month

   • Pro features assist in larger projects with vulnerability scanning and image inspections.

3. Dedicated Servers: $65 USD/month

   • Playground for development and hosting production-grade projects, like my Valheim project.

4. IDE (IntelliJ): $249 USD/year

   • Unbeatable integrations for efficient development.

5. Dbeaver: $23 USD/month

   • The go-to IDE for databases in my opinion.

6. Cloud Services (AWS/Azure/Google Cloud/B2 Backblaze): $27 USD/month

   • Covers backups, static sites, databases, and more.

Yearly Cost: $1,737 USD

Cost-Free Tools

1. Open Source Tools
   • Utilizing free and powerful tools like K8sLens, croc, kubectl, curl, bind-tools (including dig, nc), grep, aria2, terraform, rclone, and many more.

Not Calculated but Still Costs

1. Time Investment

   • Spending an average of 20 hours per week on OSS development.

2. Living Expenses

   • Utilities, housing, and daily sustenance.

3. Education

   • Investing time and money into a Bachelor's and Master's in STEM fields.

4. Hardware and Technology

   • Continuous investment in equipment for development.

Why Share This?

While I'm not in it for the money, the true cost of my OSS journey involves much more than what's reflected in these numbers. It's a labor of love, a commitment of time, and a dedication to personal and professional growth. If you're considering the OSS path, remember, the most valuable contributions often go beyond the balance sheet.