Acknowledging Great Free Software

banuaba writes: "I am a Windows user. I've tried a couple of distros of Linux, and a BSD or two, but they aren't what I need in an OS. Sometimes in my job and my personal 'life' I need something with a little more power than Windows can give me, and when that time comes, I use Cygwin and have been wholly satisfied and enamored with the product they put out. My question for all you Slashdotters out there is this: I would like to 'reward' the Cygwin people for giving me a great product that fits my needs, but aside from an 'attaboy' email, I don't see how I could compensate them, preferrably financially. I don't have any coding skills of significance, and am not inclined to learn, I'd just like a way to let them know that I like what they've done. In the non-free (as in beer) software world, I would buy their next release. Is there any way to financially help them along? Should I just mail them a check? Would that be insulting to OSS developers, as a general rule? How or would you slashdotters who work on GPL'd code like to be compensated for your time and effort?"

The GNU Project maintains the Cygwin documentation; they have a whole page of ways you can help their efforts to spread Free software, which includes sending money, but quite a few other things, too.

I like Alan Cox's system of CD donations, but I've not met any developers yet who would be offended by a donation in money, bug-fixes, hardware, or positive word of mouth. Does anyone have interesting suggestions for thanking Free software developers?

Comments

Personally...

[HoserHead]

...I find much greater gratification from seeing downloads of my software, and hearing from actual users who either have bugs (or just questions) than I think I would from monetary contributions. An 'attaboy' email can go a long way, particularly when you're tired and might be inclined to go to bed rather than enhancing your software or fixing bugs.

If you want to make the developer(s) feel good, send them an attaboy email. If you want to contribute and don't want to learn to code, send them an attaboy email and a cheque, or a case of interesting beer -- or maybe make a contribution to a charity they wish to support. An email saying "I really enjoy your software a lot, and I'd like to thank you for it -- are there any charities you particularly feel kindly for?" alleviates any possibilities that people would be offended by a cheque (though I don't know of any people who would, personally).

But really, unless the people you're trying to thank are really overloaded, actual user contact is very rewarding. Knowing that people use and enjoy your software is one of the main reasons I develop Free Software.