Yeah, something like RedHat does make lots of money off pure OSS because they sell huge support agreements to large orgs. It's harder/impossible to get smaller

Yeah, something like RedHat does make lots of money off pure OSS because they sell huge support agreements to large orgs. It's harder/impossible to get smaller businesses to pay for smaller things like tools without holding back functionality. It's all about incentives. If you are selling support, you are incented to give poor support and documentation to your free users. If you are selling functionality, you are incented to give good support to everyone with the understanding that they need to upgrade if they want that functionality. I think the open core model makes for a happier, healthier community in general. The line in the sand where the user needs to pay is very clear and no one is treated poorly.