Its free, open source software folks. Its fine to not be happy about a projects direction, but these comments are really treading the “I payed them $0 and I demand my moneys worth!” line.

He spent 4 months working on another free, open source project bexause he wanted to. That’s perfectly fair on his part. Working for $0 on things you want to work on is a sane and basic right we all have. The work may even help lemmy in an as yet unknown way.

You are as equally free as the lemmy dev to work on moderation tools. The fact that you have put in the same amount of work as the dev should tamp down the criticism a ways.

Now if you donate to the lemmy devs directly, fire away. If you want to contribute directly, Rust is an excellent programming language that fits very well with the solarpunk ethos. It’s incredibly efficient, so code uses less power than alternates, it’s memory safe, so it by default eliminates 75% of the most common computer bugs, leading to safety, stability and reliability of the products it runs on, and its community is enthusiastic, which should ensure its longevity for decades to come. Learning it might be a good avenue if you want to help lemmy.