It is common to suggest to open source projects that they should ask for donations to fund development. My understanding is that this almost never works: very, very few people donate. I have other reasons to not do that.

I live in Finland. We have a law that requires prior permission from the police to appeal to the public for donations. That's why I don't ask for donations.

I also work full time, and I'm well compensated. I live comfortably, and have no significant unmet needs. I have a home, food, and healthcare, and so I'm lucky to not need donations. That's why I don't accept donations. I'd rather you donate to someone who needs it more than I do.

• The law covers appealing for donations, not accepting donations.
• This is why the Wikimedia Foundation doesn't fund raise in Finland.
• The interpretation of the law by the police, the prosecutors, and the courts is sufficiently inconsistent and unpredictable that I don't want to try my luck. I'd rather avoid gray areas.
• Don't ask me to explain why the law exists.
• Don't ask me to interpret the law.
• Don't ask me to defend the law.
• Do ask me for my availability for your open source develompent needs.
• I'm happy to sell my time to develop software. I have a company that I can use to invoice that work. Contact me privately if you're interested.

I asked a Finnish law firm to write up an expert opinion about funding open source projects in Finland. It's in Finnish, sorry.

(I've written and published this blog post so I have something to point people at, when the topic comes up in discussion.)