I think such concerns don't have merit because: 1. an open-source project which is hard to use, would not gain any traction in first place. 2. If open source

I think such concerns don't have merit because: 1. an open-source project which is hard to use, would not gain any traction in first place. 2. If open source maintainer had a sizeable amount of users, and wanted to make money off it, they would put the project behind a paywall. Pulling the kind of shady stuff you mentioned is too much effort for little benefit. Plus it will be easily caught anyway. ------------- As an aside, onlysponsors is trying to address a real issue in open source world: helping open source maintainers find sustainable income. Even if this is not a perfect solution, it is likely a step in right direction