Donating
Why should I donate?
I've been working on VirtualDub for about six years now, although it takes a lot of time. Among the tasks I have to do are:
- Write code.
- Write documentation.
- Maintain the website.
- Answer questions on the forums.
- Answer questions asked by email.
- Read and debug bug reports.
I do this in my spare time, of which I don't have a lot now that I have a full-time job. I intend to keep VirtualDub as a hobby, because I believe that maintaining and developing VirtualDub as a commercial product would force some undesirable aspects to its design, such as compromised feature set to lower support costs and a curtailing of some of its experimental or specialized commands. Most importantly, though, it wouldn't be fun for me.
As VirtualDub is distributed as free software, however, I don't get paid for doing so. I do incur some costs associated with its development:
- Development software, such as Visual C++;
- Development hardware, namely my laptop, as well as video capture hardware to test on;
- Web hosting for the main site and forum (not including download services provided for free by SourceForge).
And of course, my time.
I don't expect anyone to pay for this — it's my hobby and I'm content to do so myself. However, if you use VirtualDub often and find it useful, you can donate as a token of appreciation for the work I have put into the program, and to encourage its further development.
How do I donate?
I have signed up for the donation system on SourceForge, which in turn uses PayPal as the method of processing:
http://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=9649
If you wish to donate other items, such as software or hardware, please contact me by email for possible arrangements.
Remember, VirtualDub remains an open-source application regardless of your decision to donate. You are neither required nor obligated, legally or morally, to donate in order to use the program, and contribution is strictly voluntary.