Sites expect you to donate before trying software

Regarding donations to free software, I’ve often given developers money if I think the end result is worth it. However, I don’t believe in paying up front before I’ve had time to assess its worth. Unfortunately, most sites seem to think you should contribute

before you’ve had a chance to see what the program can do.

Over the years I’ve contributed over £100 to Wikipedia, but then I’m always using that site. Also Libreoffice has had more than one donation. I would like to contribute to Ccleaner, but I don’t want to give in US dollars. And generally I prefer to pay via Paypal in British pounds, or euros at a push.

Hally Hardie

I love to find (quite often through your magazine) good free software. I donate when I find that a certain program is particularly useful for me. In the past few months I have donated to Libreoffice ( www. libreoffice.org), Calibre ( https://

calibre-ebook.com, see screenshot below left), Advanced Renamer ( www.advanced renamer.com) and Openandromaps.org ( www.openandromaps.org - not quite software, but close enough).

Jochen Konietzko

In a previous issue you recommended a clean-up utility called called Privazer ( https://privazer. com). I tried it, and liked it immediately. It appeared effective, thorough, and didn’t cause my PC any problems. As a result, I gave a donation of £8, which in retrospect was a small amount of money for the efficient cleaning of my PC over the past 12 months and for the foreseeable future.