This feeling has grown on me to the point i've began avoiding using most free software besides some i can't live without, and to these projects i donated the amount i could as a student from a developing country (in case you're curious, i donated $2 to Mozilla, Wikipedia, Sumatra PDF, Tab Session Manager, Cookie AutoDelete and Calibre; as i use these software everyday).
Still, i feel bad as the "free software contract" is not clear as in paid software: am i donating enough or am i just reaping the hard work off a stranger all the way around the globe?
This is an uncomfortable position, as I don't like the feeling of stealing the hard work off of anyone and don't want to put myself in that position either.
So, how do you guys cope with these feelings?
And there's many ways to pay for free software, without using money...
- || Honest Feedback || Leaving a respectfully honest review, or emailing with constructive criticism makes maintainers feel like they've actually reached someone.
- || Reporting Bugs || Politely reporting a bug you find is a useful way to contribute back to the project as it can help.
- || Testing New Features || Beta testing features is a good way to help the developer reduce bugs in new releases.
- || Spreading the Word || Writing a blog about a piece of software or sharing it with friends is a great way to grow the community and generally appreciated by maintainers.
- || Helping With Support || Watching forums and bug trackers and helping diagnose issues is a great way to give your time instead of money to a project.
All of these require zero programming experience or money, but can be much more valuable than a $2 one time donation.
You can donate money, create your own software, contribute to existing software, or pay it forward in another aspect of life. I think that last option is an important one. Maybe your biggest impact would come from volunteering at a food bank?
I guess what I'm getting at, is that the important thing is perspective and community. If we all have the mindset to help each other, then we can find ways to make our communities better in our own ways.
I use places like Patreon to help play it forward for some, and make donations from time to time for others.
I can tell you from being on the other end of this that donations are a fraction of what you get for charging, or (say) running ads, but that really doesn't have to matter.
Then you're giving back and improving the software along the way, I don't think you'll feel bad when you're contributing time to an open source project.
The tech world runs on open source, use it and give back when you can.