If you are willing to pitch in and help FreeBSD, why not donate to the FreeBSD Foundation? Of course, if you don’t want to help FreeBSD, there are other worthy causes that are close to open source and to free software:
- The OpenBSD Foundation – dedicated to funding the OpenBSD family of projects (such as OpenSSH, OpenBGPD, OpenNTPD…)
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) – the creators of the GPL and funders of the GNU Project
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – dedicated to protecting freedoms in a digital age
- The Mozilla Foundation – the funding for Mozilla, Firefox, Thunderbird, Seamonkey, and more
- The Apache Software Foundation – the non-profit behind the Apache web server, Apache Tomcat, Apache Ant, Apache Cocoon, and more
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) – dedicated to promoting the responsible use of computer technology
With the notable exception of the OpenBSD Foundation, all of these groups should be classified as 501(c)(3) charitable organizations by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The OpenBSD Foundation is a Canadian non-profit, so that’s different.
Two that are struggling the most probably are the CPSR and the OpenBSD Foundation. Both are small and not often in the limelight – even though OpenSSH is used by virtually every UNIX and Linux variant on the planet.
All of these are worthwhile – why not donate – or join today? Perhaps your (US) employer might even match your donation to one of these 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.
UNIX Administratosphere 