Economically supporting fre software

olav

I wish there was some easier way to donate money to FOSS projects I like to use. Now, I could go to linuxmint, donate some money there, then to Gimp, then to Gnome, and so on. But it would be very handy to be able to do something like this from one place, like the Linux Foundation.

Say I want to donate some money to different FOSS projects, it would be really handy to be able to do something like this:

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[$25] KDE

[$50] Mint

[$10] Gimp

[___] ( V add more)

*10% goes to Linux Foundation

[_] I want to make this a monthly donation

Choose payment method [VISA] [Paypal]

(Edit your monthly donation.)

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Is this something that would be way to hard to implement because of the effort, many small projects, and where to set a "cut" to who is allowed to be on such a list, etc.?

mfillpot

That is an interesting idea, the real limitation would be facilitating the necessary account information for the money to be passed to the participating groups/organizations.

olav

The money would/could probably be forwarded from a found at Linux Foundation, and not directly. Sending the donation in bunches and exclude the amount for their "fees/donations". Linux Foundation would need an income from this to be able to pay the cost, and I would not mind some of the amount going straight to them, since they are an important organization for the Linux community.

Are there a place you can post ideas like this where it goes to a progress of positive/negative feedback, and if it is doable or not? The closest thing I could think of was these forums.

I do believe many more people that do want to contribute economically, this would make it a lot easier to contribute, as well as contribute to several projects, not having to donate several times.

mfillpot

I have already forwarded this message to a lead at the Linux Foundation, if they or their partners are interested in the idea then something may come from it.

Thank you for sharing the information here.

chekkizhar

Good thinking, for sure. Meanwhile, try to consider the developers (like Eric, patrick volkerding and many many many others) , who are all supporting open source in their free time, without expecting doller$.

Ofcourse, you may need to visit different URLs for different developers to donate,but, i think those people deserve it.

olav

@mfillpot:
Thank you. I don't have too high hopes though, but would be interesting to see how this could affect economical growth for different projects if it got through somehow.

@crond:
I think it would be near impossible to add individuals to such a listing, but many projects needs an income to survive or progress.

If you pay to all projects from one page, nothing stops you from donating from another page. And if they deserves a donation for their work, it should be the same if they visit their page to donate or donated through another page.

I don't know how many I would speak for saying this, but I would most definitely find it easier to pay to more projects, and would more than likely put up monthly donations, if it was made easy and convenient for me to do so.

olav

Will there be any updates about about this being possible or not, and a discussion if it can be beneficial or not?

mfillpot

If the Linux Foundation has taken interest in the idea they would be working with the various groups to get input before going any further. I know that I had passed on the idea, but I do not know how interested they are in the idea or if they are working on implementing it.

If the silence or lack of information is insufficient you can always pass the idea on to other groups or attempt to implement a solution yourself.

olav

Something like this, only maybe a little better organized:

https://co.clickandpledge.com/advanced/default.aspx?wid=34115#

There is a $40 minimum for monthly donations, you have to decide the time period as you donate (maximum a year), does not seem to have any edit options, etc.