Q) Should I feel guilty for using libdmtx if I never make a donation?

Absolutely not. You should never feel guilty about using libdmtx. It is 100% free software, which in this case guarantees:

• freedom to use
• freedom to modify
• freedom to redistribute
• free of cost
• free of guilt

Q) In that case, why would anyone ever make a donation?

Donations come in many forms including source code, bug reports, sample images, and yes, cash. People have been extremely generous with their time and effort, and libdmtx is undoubtedly better as a result. Money donations, however, allow individuals and companies to help cover the expenses associated with software development and project hosting.

Q) What kind of expenses could an open source project possibly face?

It's usually a case of small expenses adding up over time, for example:

• Electricity ($100/yr with my ancient server)
• New server that uses a tiny fraction of current electricity ($285)
• Website bandwidth
• Research materials (ISO Specification, error correction book, etc...)
• Several weeks per year working on libdmtx without a "real" job
• Organizational maintenance fees (legal, accounting, etc...)

Q) Can I donate with my non-US Currency?

Donation amounts should be specified in whole U.S. dollars above (no commas or decimal points), and Google Checkout will convert them to your currency automatically. The Universal Currency Converter from www.xe.com can help with the conversion.

Q) What is the minimum non-zero money donation?

$1 USD

Q) Why does the checkout process talk about ship-to address, return policy, and order tracking?

Google Checkout is designed for processing traditional retail orders, and not necessarily for open source project donations. However, it does everything we need so we're hoping that the bits of poorly-fitting language won't be too confusing.

Q) Why have I seen libdmtx advertised in Google's AdWords and Sponsored Links? Are you using my donation to buy advertisement ??

Well ... maybe, but it's probably not what you think. Google provides inexpensive credit card processing for customers of its AdWords advertising service. By purchasing inexpensive ad space from Google we can save a significant percentage on donations. And we're not trying to be sneaky here ... Google set it up this way to drive dollars to its AdWords service, which is exactly what we're doing.

Q) Why does the donation go to Dragonfly Logic instead of an individual?

We created the Dragonfly Logic, Inc. corporation for two main reasons: for liability protection and to enable formal business relationships. In late 2006 we learned that even "patent free" technologies can be impacted by patents trolls, and this drove home the need for a legal entity to be the official project steward for libdmtx. Copyrights on the code, images, and documentation are still held by individuals, but the corporation handles all financial transactions.

Q) Is this a tax deductible donation in the U.S.?

We are structured as a for-profit corporation, so donations from individuals probably are not tax deductible.