Why I should contribute?

OpenELEC is a free, open source embedded operating system XBMC media player.

Both OpenELEC and XBMC are GPL (GNU General Public License) software, running on the mighty GPL Linux kernel. GPL code is developed by enthusiastic amateurs and professionals alike and the combination of OpenELEC, XBMC and Linux represents millions of man hours of donated developer time.

There is absolutely no requirement for users to contribute. If you choose not to donate then you can use OpenELEC just as those that have chosen to contribute, but keep in mind that code needs to run on hardware, and unfortunately hardware isn't free! In order for the OpeneELEC team to delver the best end product possible, they need hardware to test and compile code on.

OpenELEC also requires internet hosting (the website that allows you can download OpenELEC from) and hosting also costs money. The more popular OpenELEC becomes, the more downloads we will get and we'll have to pay for the extra bandwidth.

ALL donations go towards either bandwidth, domain costs, build servers or testing hardware. We don't make any profit so rest assured every cent you donate gets used to make OpenELEC better.

 

How can I make a donation?

If you want to contribute to the OpenELEC project, you can make a donation using PayPal. Donating is easy, takes only a few minutes and you do not need a PayPal account to make a donation. We have not set up our PayPal donation page to suggest a donation amount; please just donate what you feel comfortable with.

A donation will costs us more than a gift (yes, Paypal is asking money for their services). When you do own a Paypal account, the costs can be reduced to a very small amount by sending your donation as a gift. Here is how it is done:

-Go to Paypal.com and login

-Go to Send money, click the personal tab and select gift

Now continue and proceed as requested on the site. Our email address is: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
At the end you'll get an option who will pay for the costs, and you'll notice that the costs are reduced.

 

Can I donate hardware, bandwidth, time or any other way?

Yes!

As OpenELEC is not about profit, we welcome you to contribute in any way you can; just because you can't code doesnt mean you cannot contribute at all. If you want to donate time, hunt out something anywhere on the project you feel you can improve and just go for it. For example this very page was contibuted by a user.

If you have hardware or hosting you think the developers could use then contact the team via IRC, email or the forum.

 

What is OpenELEC currently spending donations on?

As of writing all donations are being spent on hosting charges and any left over contributions are being accumulated to purchase a new build server.

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