The creator has been working on Sublime full time for over 8 years with only a couple of relatively short breaks, so whatever the return it is clearly enough.

The creator has been working on Sublime full time for over 8 years with only a couple of relatively short breaks, so whatever the return it is clearly enough. The model seems much the same one a busker uses: no up front admission charge, no enforcement, the music is out there as you walk by, speaking for itself, and there is a hopeful hat on the ground. Much though creators might like a bit more certainty than that, in a cynical market as reluctant to make purchases as you yourself are, sadly, it seems difficult for an independent to do much better. Sublime is the best editor I have encountered, and I use it heavily, daily. The busker is a professional virtuoso. If I stand there, entranced, listening, day in day out, it seems churlish to walk away without putting some money in the hat. Therefore I have purchased a license, even though no-one is forcing me to and doing so unlocks no new features. Apparently enough others also feel the same way.