How 'Sandwich Money' Can Keep Independent FOSS Reporting Alive

For the price of a sandwich, you can help keep FOSS journalism free — in every sense of the word.

Hey, buddy — Can you spare a… sandwich?

Believe it or not — and I don’t blame you if you don’t — this will be brief. Christine Hall asked me to write something in support of FOSS Force’s 2026 Independence Drive, and after putting the Debian post to bed earlier this week, I got cracking.

You might find it a bit self-serving for me to come to you, proverbial hat in hand, and ask for money. Chances are you’d be right, too. Even I am a little sheepish making this appeal on FOSS Force’s behalf because, truth be told, I indirectly benefit as a member of its stable of writers.

But there’s a phenomenally bigger issue here: For more than 15 years, FOSS Force has told thousands of stories — long-running projects, licensing issues, community debates, and distro reviews, among others — that help everyday FOSS users choose the tools they can trust. Throughout all this time, FOSS Force has done this without a paywall or subscription plan — it’s all free, both as in freedom and also as in free beer.

Having a history with FOSS Force is a source of honor for me, personally, and I am thankful for having the opportunity to write the Distro of the Week column, which appears every Thursday on this site.

“That’s great, Larry. But” — I can hear you asking — “what exactly does this have to do with a sandwich?”

A little personal history: I was the Green Party candidate for California Insurance Commissioner in 2006. Since the Greens are forbidden from taking corporate donations, I was scrambling to finance the campaign, so I finally happened upon a way to do it through the masses.

“Buy me a sandwich or a cup of coffee,” I said, “but instead of the physical sandwich or coffee, donate the money to the campaign.”

It worked, sort of. People would donate $5 per week in lieu of a cup of coffee or forgo a sandwich that day for about the same price. Multiply that by the number of weeks and it became a nice little campaign nest egg.

Got $5 to spare this week? That’s $20 per month.

Got more to spare? Even better.

Which is why when donating, it’s not the big one-time donors that are significant — although big one-time donors are greatly and deeply appreciated — but the multiplicity of smaller donors over time who deserve our truest gratitude as well. The goal of honest and concrete FOSS journalism is one of the most worthy — if not the most worthy — cause going today, and we deliver that at FOSS Force.

Like my fellow Linux advocate Ken Starks, who wrote a brilliant appeal this week, I too am on a fixed income, but I am donating monthly to the cause of independent FOSS reporting, and I would strongly urge you to join us in making a monthly contribution to the cause.

Thank you for your time. Now go buy FOSS Force a sandwich…