[keithpeter]

Slackware: I donated the cost of the DVDs plus postage. Seemed silly to shift atoms across an ocean when the bits can trickle down the phone line from a mirror server about 60 miles away.

Are there any strange tax or accounting advantages for the organisation I'm supporting if I buy actual stuff rather than donating?

[cdcarter]

I don't know about Canadian tax law, but in the US there is no benefit to earned revenue over contributed revenue, and often having a high number of individual donors can be advantageous for granting reasons.

[danielbarla]

I've seen some strange things related to exports (primarily because the law seems to be moving at a glacial speed compared to reality). So, e.g. a product exported to another country may be exempt from local VAT (so you can "zero rate" it, hence the checkbox that sometimes appears on order pages). This gets a bit blurry when it comes to digital software sales - is it a product you are shipping to another country? Or is it a service you are rendering in your own country (and thus, not exempt from VAT)?