Say Thanks: showing gratitude to open-source maintainers

A few years ago, I discovered the saythanks.io project, a platform that allows users to send anonymous thank-you messages to open-source maintainers.

I started adding links to my saythanks inbox to various places, such my Github projects or social media profiles. I received a lot of messages, and I was really touched by some of them. To me, it’s a great alternative to monetary donations, and it often feels more personal.

Since 2018, I have received about 700 messages:

I can’t lie, I’m surprised by the amount of messages I got. It turns out that by just giving a simple platform like Say Thanks for people to express their gratitude, they will use it!

The Say Thanks project #

The project itself is an open-source python app. I personally logged in with my Github account.

The project is somewhat inactive, but it’s still up and running. There have been a few times when it stopped working, but there have been multiple maintainers over time that fixed it.

Messages I received #

I wanted to share some of the messages I received to show you how much it can mean to people to receive a simple thank-you message.

VPN scripts on Github #

If you follow me, you probably know me for my VPN scripts on Github. According to Github, they receive more than a thousand visitors per day. I added a link to my Say Thanks inbox at the end of the README, such as here, and every few days, I receive a new message. Most of my inbox messages are from users of my VPN scripts.

Dear angristan, Thank you for this wireguard installer projects! It’s awesome and my whole family and some friends already depend on it, cheers.

Dear angristan (and contributors), Thank you for wireguard-install! This easy-to-use tool is most helpful to simplify Wireguard management for a number of small non-profit organizations. The tool is well-written and easy to audit for me. Thank you!

Dear angristan, Thanks for helping me with Wireguard, your script worked as well as a mug of fresh, hot coffee. It saved me when I was stuck and almost thinking about giving up. I hope you continue to be this good person helping those who don’t know as much as you.

Dear angristan, Although as a computer scientist with a specialization in networks and distributed systems I should be able to do this off the top of my head without it, I’ve been using the script as a no-brainer for years. Thanks for that!

Dear angristan, Thank you for wireguard-install. It has been a life saver managing a small network of 125 or so remote devices.

Dear angristan,

Your WireGuard VPN is genius.

I have only basic networking knowledge and cannot believe I was able to setup a VPN service in a single weekend.

This will help my wife be safe out there in the wild.

Merci beaucoup!

Dear angristan,

Thank you for the wonderful script and software you have provided the community with. openvpn-install.sh is a very fast and efficient way to install the openvpn server and has really made our lives easier for simple installations, almost one-click installations that work right after initial install and config.

It is much easier to make additional configurations on a platform that has already been installed with the default settings and that it is actually working, than to have to install and configure everything from almost the scratch.

Moreover, it is you that actually keep the project alive. Since everything changes, time would have deteriorated this project like it is doing with everything, people, software, ideas, civilization, etc, etc.

Soooo… a very big !!! THANK YOU !!!

It is very nice to give us this space to address to you! Many thanks to this project also!

Kind regards,

Dear angristan, I used your script to setup wireguard-vpn for my overseas family and we played LAN games together. Thanks a lot!

Dear Angristan, Thank you for creating the Linux WireGuard installer and manager. It helps me manage about 70 devices remotely connected to our business system. I use it on a virtual Ubuntu machine and it works perfectly. It has also helped my family recently on a trip to the UK where we would connect to several public/free Wi-fi. Your script is elegant and fits my needs perfectly.

Dear Angristan, Thank you so much for putting together the wireguard install script. It is very nice to use, you are a fantastic human. You inspire me.

Dear angristan, Thank you for making my life simpler by providing your wonderful openvpn installation script and putting in the effort and time that you have. It’s people like you that made the Open Source community to what it is today.. so whenever you feel that imposter syndrome kicking in, just remember that there are lots of people out there that think you are AWESOME!

Hey Stan, My name is also Stan, and I want to thank you for an amazing openvpn-install project. It helped me set up my first VPN and inspired me to dig into this topic. I’ve learned how iptables work and ended up writing an Ansible role for Wireguard configuration!

Hello, thanks for the work and time of putting this together!, I was really struggling with my openvpn server installation but I could make it work easily with your script. I enjoyed my vacations knowing that I could monitor my cameras from anywhere and check if everything was good.

Hi Angristan, I’d like to thank you for all the effort you put into this project, it’s good to see that people with great expertise helps others (like me) to accomplish tasks that are long (and difficult) with a couple of commands and getting professional level results.

Circumventing censorship #

Dear angristan, I live in Iran and despite the fact that both OpenVPN and WireGuard are blocked in the country, I have found workarounds and used your scripts multiple times as part of my process to circumvent the Internet censorship, thank you.

Dear Angristan, Thank you for your VPN repo, it really helped me when I was stuck because of my government restrictions. I won’t forget that for you. Thank you again.

Thank you dude I’m from Iran and programming without VPN is almost impossible here. your repo helps me a lot I appreciate you

Dear sir/madam

“Thanks” is such a little word to carry a big load. The script you wrote worked perfectly. Now I have my personal VPN server. Now I can surf the web without any country-level censorship. Thank you one more time!

Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey.

Mastodon #

I’ve been managing some Mastodon instances for a few years now. Here are some messages I received from users of my instances:

Dear angristan,

Thank you for mstdn.io. Over the last few months Mastodon has been a true source of joy for me. I am a mom and I stay at home with my kids. At times, this is isolating. But I have become truly connected with many people on Mastodon, and I look forward to seeing what is new every day.

I hope you are well. Best,

Dear angristan, Thanks for all that you do in hosting this instance. I know there’s a lot of work involved and wanted to say thanks for providing a nice spot on the Internet that I can relax and enjoy being on.

Thank you so much for all your hard work! Thanks to you I’ve made so many great friends and I found a home on the Fediverse to escape centralized social media. The Fedi has been helping me deal with life and my life wouldn’t be the same without it. You run the best instance ever. Thank you for a rockin’ CoC, too. Thank you for working hard when the corruption issue happens. You’re the best!

Pure kindness #

Sometimes, people just want to say thanks, and that’s it

Hi Stanislas, Thank you very much for all the work you’ve done for people you don’t even know. It sparks joy to see that there are still nice people in the world. Thank you once again.

Dear Angristan

Thank you for trying to make this world a better place. Peace

Dear Stanislas, thank you for being yourself.

Say Thanks 💌 #

If you sent me a message on Say Thanks, thank you! I read all of them, and I appreciate them all.

I would encourage you to add a link to your Say Thanks inbox to your projects, or to your social media profiles. And if you stumble upon a project with a Say Thanks link, don’t hesitate to send a message!