Note on Code Swaraj
Why I Print
Many people have suggested that I use “crowdsourcing” platforms such as Kickstarter to raise money. I’ve tried that a few times, but it has never been very successful. Platforms like Kickstarter work best when you are promising people some brand new piece of hardware or a book or some other concrete thing not available in any other place. General support for a good mission, even if you give out books other prizes as part of the campaign, have a tough time in that world.
I’ve also tried doing appeals for small contributions during the holiday giving season, but frankly, there are many other more compelling places I would recommend people put their individual contributions, from network operations like EFF or the Internet Archive to the many, many compelling charities “in the real world” such as food banks, disaster relief, and much more.
Crowdsourcing campaigns are an awful lot of work, be they for fundraising or to garner attention on an issue, such as PACER fees. I’ve found it more effective to put that work into my own printing efforts, which are typically very targeted instead of mass appeal. For example, after we converted the Building Code of India into HTML with far better graphics, I printed a nice 2-volume hardcover with beautiful dust jackets and in-line historical prints from Indian buildings. It was designed by Point.B Studio, and I only printed a dozen copies, but they were spectacular.
Those copies went to people like Sam Pitroda and the Bureau of India Standards to show them the potential of what I was doing. I wanted them to see I was serious about this, that the effort was for real, that all this work led to concrete improvements.
Likewise, after I created a bootleg version of the Delaware Corporate Code, which in theory has a jail sentence for unauthorized production without permission from the Secretary of State, I sent those copies to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to bring the issue to their attention. Despite a personal contact through a friend with Beau Biden, the incoming Attorney General, I never heard back from them.
I’ve also printed a number of proclamations and addresses, inspired by a practice in India when an elaborately printed document would be presented to a guest of honor. Gandhi, for example, received quite a few of those addresses when he gave speeches. The addresses are ornate, inscribed, framed
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