I thought donations were optional

One of my favorite programs was acting up, so I went to reinstall. Turned out this program that has been free for a decade, now wants $29 a month, to let me pirate movies. Da fuck? What a way to shit the bed, to offer the same free program but charge for it out of nowhere

I think pay what you can/want is a great concept, but calling it donation is kinda misleading

Just about every instance of this, you can donate $0...

Escortware. You're not paying for the software, you're paying for the time you're using the software.

Any real-life example of anyone doing this?

I find it funny how the word retard has become a slur but the implication that something is retarded is still acceptable

You can literally donate 1ct. I have no idea how people can complain when developers want money for their work.

The "Linux community" is 80% users that dont contribute, 10% "powerusers" that still dont contribute, 5% people that help with nondevelopment work (bug reporting, community support, etc.) and 5% actual developers.

(Completely rough estimation)

Randsomeware

You must pay to use your own software

I hear you. I think it's just exceedingly rare. Not saying it doesn't exist, I just think giving it a name is a little strange given how unbelievably rare it is. But, you got to start somewhere! So, I digress. I guess, here it is. 🤷‍♂️

In a lot of religious areas, you're not allowed to buy religious iconography.

But if you make a set-price donation, they'll give you religious iconography as a completely unrelated gift to recognize your piety.

Where the fuck did you get this definition from?

If I remember correctly vim is charityware and is entirely free, I only found out about the charity part on accident.

English people on their way to ruin the meaning of every word.

There is also software that you could compile from source yourself but the binaries are locked behind a donation. Are those also donationware?

In English, the correct meaning of words is always optional. The language is fluid, literally anything can be a euphemism; idk if that's also the case in other languages but it regularly trips up even native speakers.

Even so, even with that much flexibility built into the language, this is still just malignant, cynical, toxic lying of the worst sort.

Hey what if my software is paid, but you can purchase it for N money or more, with an input field?

Because that I've seen a lot, and it sounds suspiciously like what you're describing, yet completely normal.

Edited for grammar

What like itch.io? Hard disagree

Isn't Vim donationware? (Hint: it is)

I dunno this lacks nuance… I think this could easily be referring to different economic situations. The concept of donation usually has this implication of not being a for-profit entity or for a indie developer’s side project. These kinds of apps usually are still either open source or source available which is different than closed, proprietary applications. With this focus on money, I would assume that “free” is meaning gratis where users can often be the product & while the source is not available …or some VC-funded product where they are loss-leading a free tier now just eventually charge everyone later which is hardly good, with a dash of open washing to taste.

Here in Australia we have Meetup groups which request mandatory donations for hikers too.

Always by the worst guides. Surely the tax office and legal system (when people get injured) can't outsmart such actual genius lol

Now what about software that pays you to use it?

Oh no, I just described cryptocurrency.