Comparison with closed source software sometimes does. If I installed windows I would pay nothing. If I got a computer with Windows preinstalled I would pay a price premium less than $50, perhaps even negative. And buying it from Microsoft costs significantly more. So how much should I pay Arch? Paying $50 for something I get for free feels like I'm being had.

You might say that I can then pay smaller amounts regularly. But aren't subscriptions shunned when it's for closed source software?

Then who should I donate to? I've donated to Arch, Kde and the lemmy instances I use. But what about like Linux itself? Browsers I use? The weather app? Upstream libraries of those projects? How much should each get? Kde already gets more money than they can spend. Should the amount be based on how much value I receive or how much they need it?

And once those are decided then I need to find how to donate. It's easier to just not