Ironically, Elementary might have an easier time charging money for it if they positioned it less as an open source project. macOS is built largely atop open so

Ironically, Elementary might have an easier time charging money for it if they positioned it less as an open source project. macOS is built largely atop open source software, and while they do make the GPL'd sources available for download they're not nearly enough to compile an OS with an experience approaching macOS.