I actually really like the developer’s rationale for why they use an anime character as the mascot.

The whole blog post is worth reading, but the TL;DR is this:

Of course, nothing is stopping you from forking the software to replace the art assets. Instead of doing that, I would rather you support the project and purchase a license for the commercial variant of Anubis named BotStopper. Doing this will make sure that the project is sustainable and that I don’t burn myself out to a crisp in the process of keeping small internet websites open to the public.

At some level, I use the presence of the Anubis mascot as a “shopping cart test”. If you either pay me for the unbranded version or leave the character intact, I’m going to take any bug reports more seriously. It’s a positive sign that you are willing to invest in the project’s success and help make sure that people developing vital infrastructure are not neglected.

I feel like this headline and article are missing the mark. This is clearly aping off of TikTok Live’s Gifts system, which works in basically the exact same way. It’s crazy to me that the article doesn’t mention them at all.

Just like YouTube started supercharging Shorts after TikTok took off, they’re chasing that same train again.