Currently weather data is paid for by taxes. Although it hasn't always been, and it's currently under threat, so it's not a given going forward. But that's all

Currently weather data is paid for by taxes. Although it hasn't always been, and it's currently under threat, so it's not a given going forward. But that's all beside the point. The point is that it is in society's interest to just pay for some things that are widely benefited from. Weather data's just one example. > if people want to be paid they need to make that need or desire explicitly clear and on the record Nope! > they don't get to subsequently complain Also nope! You are not a person who gets to decide that for everybody. A free license isn't a suicide pact or a ball gag. People can do things and then complain if it's not working out. Or not, as they prefer! But that too is beside the point. Which is that as a society we should figure out ways to support public goods like certain open-source software. Whether or not a given package maintainer asks.