What if I paid for all my free software?
What if I paid for all my free software?
I've always felt guilty by taking for granted the rare breed of virtuous humans that provide free excellent software without relying on advertising. Let's change that and pay, how much would I “lose” anyway?
I've always felt guilty by taking for granted the rare breed of virtuous humans that provide free excellent software without relying on advertising. Let's change that and pay, how much would I “lose” anyway?
My yearly spend is approximately €500, give or take a little. Fortunately, I can afford to do this. I hold no judgement for those who are not in a position to do. My only motivation for contributing financially is to ensure the free, functional, ad free, privacy preserving software I love continues to exist. It needs to exist especially for those who cannot afford to pay a corporation for proprietary software. A shout out to all the developers who adhere to FOSS principles. Each new year I make a list of the software I've mainlined and similar to the article I allot an amount to each one based on my usage. Many times it's time-tested old-school tools, but we're seeing a lot of new development with Rust apps, crates and TUIs. This year I added Matrix. Also EFF, despite not being directly impacted by that jurisdiction. They truly are holding back a giant wave with global repercussions. It's not always easy to justify the time spent creating FOSS tools when there's bills to pay, mouths to feed. Thank you - You know who you are.
Is your list public? (I can't check if you have personal website because an account is required to see your profile on feddit.)
No public list, sorry. I'm willing to say that I already support many things on your list. And like you pointed out, many projects with software I use don't have a way to support them financially, which frustrates me to no end.
Many projects accept donations, for example for server costs or travel expenses (conferences, meetings). You can setup recurring monthly transfers to projects whose software you use most often. Examples are the Free Software Foundation for various GNU tools or the KDE project.
That's what I did, hence the essay ;)
I already donate a fiver monthly to a few charities I like (Amnesty International, Liberty, and Wikipedia), I might add KDE to that list once my currently financial woes are sorted (along with Citizens Advice who are helping me through them)
A few years ago I paid for winrar cause I had used it for free for about 15-20 years at least
Great article, thanks!
I want to help but I'm making zero money. Zero times any percentage is zero.
I'm now on fixed income but I appreciate FOSS. I usually try to donate, especially if the project accepts bitcoin which I've had for a while so it costs me less. Too bad many projects don't. That includes Wikipedia and they keep asking why I stopped.
Same. Any place asking for donations that supports Bitcoin lightning is an instant donate for me, I always give something even if it's a small amount. Lightning fees are so low that I'm happy to give small amounts whereas otherwise I'm worried my $3 donation will turn into $0.50 by the time it reaches the organization if it's through Paypal or whoever.