[chrisseaton]

> to donate to open source developers who develop the tools they use

Are those people available to work extra hours for pay though?

I help maintain some open source software but if someone offered me money to work on it more then sorry but I don't have magic extra hours in the day to do that - I've got a full-time job and hobbies of my own.

I think it's better the companies step forward and put the hours in as well as the money.

[kstenerud]

When you donate to someone, there aren't strings attached. There are no expected hours. It's merely a "thank you", and an incentive for the person to keep at what he's already doing.

Of course, with enough donations going on, it would be possible to quit your fulltime job like this fellow has done, freeing up even more of his time.

[badosu]

With enough funding the developer can invest in a team, adhering to their standards.