There is a class of products with strong elements of charitable contribution. For example Plex Pass, endangered species chocolate, LWN subscription, and select

There is a class of products with strong elements of charitable contribution. For example Plex Pass, endangered species chocolate, LWN subscription, and select blockchain tokens--and maybe this too. There are hard to pin down non-commercial benefits to purchasers mixed in with traditional value drivers. With Plex, I purchased a lifetime membership not because I valued any of the added features (I don't use them to this day), but because I got so much value out of the project that I felt indebted and wished to express my gratitude. I wanted the project to live on, and I also got to brag about my deeds on tech forums. The incredible scaling characteristics of software allow me to already enjoy most of the benefit from the free/open base edition alone. Here are reasons for my "charity-driven" purchases: - Admiration for project vision and desire to ensure its longevity - A sense of gratitude due to incommensurate value enjoyed for very cheap or free - Wanting to belong to the community and feel like part of the journey I find myself valuing these items as "real commercial benefit": - Strong privacy guarantees - Cost-plus models such as selling managed storage, bandwidth, etc. - Subscription to updates backed by regular human labor - Access to premium support/SLA