Discussion on: Pay your rent from open source 💸

Thanks Liyas for starting this topic.

I was once looking for an open source license that says:

Use this software personally for free, but not for professional use.

Apparently, OSS never works that way... it's free in essence.

So the way to go is to launch a premium service for highly desirable features.

I don't know why the author of Sizzy has bitter feelings about the experience of publishing his tool as an OSS:

1. He validated the need of his tool.
2. He validated it twice, by neglecting it for some time but the usage numbers kept increasing.
3. He found the perfect mix of what features people exactly wanted, by giving it for a broader audience for free.
4. He gained followers (aka potential customers).
5. He finally launched the premium product.

If he can't see all that as a positive experience, I don't know what to say!