PlanetFOSS officially launched ten days ago. The site collects Linux and open source news from what are now 189 sources, bundles reports on the same story and shows what’s hot right now. One thing mattered to me from the very start: PlanetFOSS should bring readers to these sites, not take them away. That’s why every card links to the original article, and there are no full texts.
But a click alone doesn’t pay any bills. Behind many sources are people who write their articles in their spare time, or small newsrooms that live on subscriptions, donations and ads. Lots of readers block the ads, though, and if you find an article through an aggregator, you usually never even see the blog’s donation page. A new link on PlanetFOSS is meant to close that gap.
A heart for the source
Starting today, blogs, magazines and publishers can add a link to their subscription or donation page on PlanetFOSS. It appears on their source page as a box of its own, “Support …”, right below the header, complete with a Support button. One click takes you straight to the site owner’s page. PlanetFOSS doesn’t sit in between and doesn’t earn a cent from it; it’s just a plain old link.
In the solar system, the directory of all sources, these sites also get a small heart. On top of that, there’s a separate Support tab that lists only the sources that have added such a link. So if you want to give something back to a blog or magazine you read regularly, you’ll find the right page there with a single click instead of having to hunt for it.
Two sources are on board from day one. GNU/Linux.ch (in German) points to its support page, and Linux und Ich got its heart as well: here the link leads to “Buy me a coffee”. Sure, putting my own blog in first has a certain aftertaste. But somebody had to try out the feature, and in my case I at least knew for sure where the link was supposed to go.
What PlanetFOSS promises publishers
PlanetFOSS already has a few fixed rules for publishers and site owners. Every card links directly to your article, with no framing and no copy. It only takes what your site itself provides for previews, and PlanetFOSS automatically honors settings like noindex or max-snippet in your meta robots tags. For publishers, the teaser is also capped at 200 characters.
Then there’s reach: on request, I’ll tell you how many readers the website sent your way in a month. Only daily totals are counted, with no data about the readers themselves. All of these promises are collected on the About PlanetFOSS page in the section “For publishers and site owners”, in case you want to read through them at your leisure or pass them on to your editorial team.
Get in touch
You run a blog, a magazine, a video channel or a publishing house that’s part of PlanetFOSS, and you have a page for subscriptions or donations, say through Steady, Patreon, Liberapay or Ko-fi? Then drop me a short email at info@planetfoss.net or leave a comment here on the blog. All I need is the address of that page; I’ll take care of the rest.
If you’re not on PlanetFOSS at all yet, you’re just as welcome to get in touch, and the same goes for anyone who would rather not be included: removal happens right away. And to you as readers: if you read a source regularly, take a look at the Support tab. Which blogs and magazines would you like to see there with a heart?
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