10 ways to support free software you love, 9 won’t cost you a dime.

All things need support to survive and free software is no exception. To create and bring you the tools you love, developers need your support. Few people can give money to every project they like so here are ten easy ways to support your favorite tools regardless of your financial status.

Make donation. Every bit helps. With millions of people buying software around the world, even tiny amounts can add up.
Present it: More gets more. You learn more when preparing to demo. If people hear you are using or see you going they may follow and discover even more. It makes the developers and your friends happy. It’s win-win-win.
Spread the word about an upcoming or new release. You know tons of developers don’t go on unless you introduce their work which makes you a very important powerful person.
Review: all marketplaces and wherever the software is available will have a place to comment or review the piece. Even a couple of words like “I love this util” or “Really helpful” may help someone’s decision to try.
Post on social media: On facebook, twitter, etc you can post yours thoughts, link to their home page or even a references from your project site using their logos.
Join: Get on the email list, follow on GitHub, just see what is about to happen.
Request: make requests for new features or even start research on how they can be implemented.
Follow: “like” their band page, become friends on Facebook, follow on Twitter or whatever the latest social media thing is when you read this.
Give leads: You may know great libraries or components to use, or you may be developing some. They may have never heard about that cool stuff if you didn’t share it. Just don’t be surprised if conversation starts and makes that thing core of next major feature.
Write or email: and tell them how much their software means to you. It always feels good to know people are out their using and that people are getting what rocks. They may even write back. You could even become pals. Don’t feel bad if you don’t hear anything back. Even minor celebrities are rarely able to give people the time and attention they would like. It’s just math, too many people not enough time but you never know.