[Geezus_Aach]

I'm new to Macs (long time PC user) and just about all the software I'm finding is Freeware. Freeware or shareware dosen't really exist in the PC world... unless you want to call it piracy...lol! With some of the downloads I've done, there is an option to donate but I am unsure of the dollar amount. So far, I haven't doanted anything...nothing like FREE stuff! But after using these free programs, I'm feeling sort of guilty. Thinking about how hard the programmer worked to make these cool programs, I now want to give some. But how much to donate? Is there some sort of standard, as in tipping a waitress vs. a bartender? Does the programmer get some sort of "kick back" from Apple for making it? I don't want to insult by not paying enough but yet, free is awesome. I guess it depends on what freeware it is...

[Zimphire]

$5 to $10

[spiky_dog]

sending a nice email to the developer is an easy, cheap, and appreciated gesture.

[Millennium]

There is no real standard, as far as freeware goes. $5-$10 is generally appreciated but not required. There is no developer "kickback" from Apple, though.

The Mac had a rich shareware community for a long time, back in the OS9 days. There is still a good amount of shareware, of course, but OSX brought in a large number of Unix/Linux developers, and that has shifted a lot of independent software development to freeware and/or Open-Source models. Among these, accepting donations is a relatively recent phenomenon, but it's gaining in popularity.

[Basilisk]

What a wonderful question... Let me try to answer honestly, and give you a bit of perspective from someone who writes at least one fairly popular piece of freeware/donationware (MenuMeters).

First, understand that when a developer releases donationware they do so in full awareness that most users will treat it as freeware. In other words, most users don't donate.

Thus if you're considering donating at all, in any amount, you have already joined the very small number of users who contribute. This is the absolute most important thing. If you chose to donate you're already being more generous than the vast majority. I assure you that any donationware developer will appreciate your donation, no matter how small. There is no level that is "insulting".

As for amount to donate, that's entirely up to you. Over the years I've been doing MenuMeters I've received donations large and small. The only real concern with small donations is that much less of the money ends up in the developer's hands. As a practical matter service fees tend to eat up about 33% of small donations. Thus if you're making a $1 donation, you're really giving PayPal (as an example) 33% and the developer 66%. Contrast that, for example, with a $5 donation where the developer gets 90% of the money.

This is not to say that developers don't appreciate the $1 donation. I've had a lot of small donations, and they are important to me. Just understand that donations below a certain size (about $2) start to advantage the payment processor more than you might expect.

Ultimately its up to you to decide the amount. How useful is the utility to you? For something you use everyday $5-$10 is very reasonable, and will go a long way to help cover the bandwidth costs for the developer.

Finally, spiky_dog is absolutely correct. If you don't want to donate (or can't afford to donate), you should consider sending the developer an email. Its always good to hear from users who appreciate the hard work.

Alex

[ohm^n]

I generally donate about ten bucks because that's what I charge for my software.

I agree with what Basilisk said. I think the only additional advice I could give is to think about how much time or stress that particular app saves you, and base your donation on that.

OT:
Basilisk, what part of S.F. Bay? I'm in Sonoma.

[Basilisk]

Totally OT:

Basilisk, what part of S.F. Bay? I'm in Sonoma.

Santa Clara, I just moved here from Austin.

Alex