The only software project I donate to is NVDA[1]. It's an open source screen reader, AKA software that makes it possible for the blind to use computers through synthesized speech.
It's one of the few open source projects (besides Blender and GIMP) that is used directly by non-technical end-users and that has managed to surpass its commercial brethren , both in features and popularity. This is partly due to its extreme, almost Emacs-like hackability and a vibrant plugin ecosystem, which provides everything from better speech synthesizers to accessibility enhancements for other apps.
It has been created by two guys in Australia, mostly in response to the outrageous prices of commercial screen readers (~$1500 for noncommercial use). The situation has gotten better since then, Windows now comes with Narrator, which is... usable, but NVDA is still the top contender for most (non-enterprise) use cases.
> It's one of the few open source projects (besides Blender and GIMP) that is used directly by non-technical end-users and that has managed to surpass its commercial brethren , both in features and popularity.
Since when has GIMP surpassed its commercial brethren?
I think for gimp it was just meant as an example of an open source project that is used by technical and non-technical users alike, not necessarily that it has surpassed its commercial brethren.
Unfortunate name collision on that one
I had the privilege of a meeting with one of the founders at NVDA. We were integrating it into to our computer kiosks and Michael Curran joined the call and helped guide us on how best to achieve our goal. It is obvious to me that the NVDA team cares deeply about equal access. Their goal is a noble one worthy of donations. We did not have the same experience swimming around the waters of Martha's Vineyard.
I know the other founder, Jamie Teh. Great guy, and probably the one engineer I've ever met who I can communicate with so well that we can do it in shorthand. I refer to our technical discussions as "mind melds."