This is a post for the crack 'torrenters, the chronic non-donators and the I'll-stick-with-the- free - alternative'ers in the crowd: we want to hear your thoughts on why you don't pay for software. We aren't talking about those of us who simply can't afford this or that; if you're using iPhoto and can't cover the $300 (or $150 educational) price of Aperture that's one thing. If you're just plain happy with what a free version/alternative does, that's fine too.

We're talking to those of you who download that great piece of donationware that beats the pants off the $40 alternative, but still don't even drop so much as $1 in the PayPal tip jar. We wanted to pop this question because we're seeing better and better software coming from open source, donationware and shareware developers, and yet many of them are still having a hard time making a living doing something they love, which is creating the products we obviously appreciate.

So what's up? Are you surviving on a strict diet of ramen noodles and that discount Brand X version of Mountain Dew, with little room to spend on 1s and 0s? Do you simply not believe in paying for bits and bytes? Or are you just a stickler for anything you can get for free?

We would really like to hear thoughts from the community on why you either chose not to - or simply can't - pay for software.