elementary OS has something similar to what you're proposing. All the apps created specifically for elementary OS[0] are available on GitHub, authors set their

elementary OS has something similar to what you're proposing. All the apps created specifically for elementary OS[0] are available on GitHub, authors set their preferred price in the app store. As a user you can pay-what-you-want for the app (including $0, which allows you to download an app without paying for it). They're working on an online account feature for the next release so that they can remember your credit card to make the process more streamlined, persist between installs and similar. At the moment, it's more convenient to specify $0 than it is to enter your card over and over again. You can also skip the AppCenter all together by specifying the package name (example: "apt install com.github.alaim23.planner"). [0] 162 at the moment: https://appcenter.elementary.io/ https://appcenter.elementary.io/