It's good that there's really not much difference between Basic and Pro, and I agree with Murasame (I'm on my 4th Pro) that it's a donation to encourage the development. I donate BECAUSE I don't have to and I hate being a leech. You can even build your own version that could be as good as Pro

The cash also rewards quite a few open sourcers who help out the project. See http://www.limewire.org/awards.shtml for how they are also thanked. [btw--the page is quite out of date just now and is being updated soon, I hope]

So--LW even uses the cash to back up their gratitude. That makes me trust LW probably more than I should

I'm even starting to think the LW folk take this message seriously

Quote:

The combined public efforts of noble individuals will keep Gnutella a virtuous, public network, for the people and by the people. In donating our code, Lime Wire LLC hopes that all free-spirited developers will join us to build a network that benefits all people and future generations.

from http://www.limewire.org/
Yep--it's a good project that feels good to support. I don't know how they keep up with the costs, but it works