People who enjoy open-source software often forget that most of the developers behind the code are working in their own time and at their own expense.

For some open-source projects, it's not an issue, but others would benefit hugely from donations. So I thought it's worth listing 10 projects I feel deserve help. They range in audience and scope, and some are more in need than others, but each would benefit from financial support.

1. iTalc

iTalc is the first of two educational projects on my list. Most people would agree that education should be a high priority for donations, attention and general aid. This open-source project is a powerful didactic tool that enables teachers to instruct, control and test students and their PCs. It allows teachers to view and control a student's desktop over the network and, among other things, take screenshots. Of course, nearly every open-source educational software project could do with financial support, unless it's already funded by a university.

Image credit: iTalc