I think this thing could potentially be world-changing, if it really takes off. It lets you crowd-fund people doing great work that you want to support, in a sustainable way. So they can spend more time following their passion and doing great things, rather than wasting their time at a crappy 9-to-5 just to pay the bills.
Unlike a charity, where you typically support a "cause" but have no clear way of seeing how your money makes a contribution (or even be sure that the money doesn't get stolen), I prefer this much more because it lets you fund people (of your choice) directly.
Also, I really like the concept of an "open company" behind Gittip.
"Gittip is funded on Gittip. That means the interests of Gittip as a company are perfectly aligned with the interests of Gittip’s users."
I would not be as enthusiastic about this if Gittip were a for-profit company like many others are. But this really feels like something "made for people, by the people" in a genuine way. Or at least that's my current understanding of it.
"I like the detailed text formatting especially the fraud page: https://www.gittip.com/about/fraud/2012-11-05.html
math0ne: you've been hellbanned for the last 5 years. I have no clue why. (More on hellbans on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3477488)