Ask HN: How often you donate to open-source, and why ? - groomed
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IfOnlyYouKnew
Never, mostly because there are better uses for my marginal giving (see
[https://www.givewell.org](https://www.givewell.org)).

But I do submit a bunch of PRs.

~~~
mikece
Which kind of contribution do you suppose open source maintainers prefer: cash
or code?

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lethologica
I've only really done it once, and it wasn't a donation exactly. I was more
than happy to pay for the Anki iOS app after coming from the free Android
version. Anki is the reason I passed university. It's the reason I secured the
job I have now. It's the reason I've been able to learn a new language. I
would have have paid 10x the amount for it. So while not a donation exactly (I
received a good in exchange) I have been happy to pay for OSS

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snodnipper
Cash: I donate to OSS projects at Xmas...and I do so with some news sources
too. I give to projects that demonstrate good behaviours in the year - they
are progressive, they are doing something I need and they have a plan on how
to use the money. Some projects pass funds over to another project...if they
do that then I don't donate to them and I consider the other project. I
evaluate the above every Xmas...and sometimes I have to pull the plug esp.
with news agencies that show signs of toxic behaviour. e.g. I stopped giving
to the Guardian because their technology editors failed to write balanced
articles, which then causes misinformation in the comments section requiring
moderation etc. Openclipart.org also won't be receiving anything this year
because they have done next to nothing at providing a solution to their "DDOS
attack" and haven't been receptive to support.

Code: I make PRs, raise issues and open source my code where possible.

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petee
I give what I can, when I can (and when I remember!) to OpenBSD and Wikipedia
(not directly OS, but close enough), but that usually ends up about every
couple years.

OpenBSD because I use it primarily, and its always felt like they get the shit
end of the giving stick despite their contributions and commercial use

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ratsmack
I've given many open source projects donations if I'm using the software. One
thing about me though, if I read that the money is going to some social
engineering project, like outreach programs, you will never get another penny
from me.

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tmaly
I give $20 a year to Mozilla for Firefox. I use it every day both on phone and
on the computer. I the vision and the fact that is it not controlled by a mega
corporation.

