Nagware and price gouging are not problems exclusive to the open core model, though, so it's unfair to criticize it as being responsible for this. Especially wh

Nagware and price gouging are not problems exclusive to the open core model, though, so it's unfair to criticize it as being responsible for this. Especially when the proposed alternatives in the article offer much less benefits to the user. > I think part of the problem is that once you rely on premium tier features like LDAP, you're hooked and now the fact that it's open core has about zero relevance to you. For a product like Mattermost, I can see how LDAP is a premium tier feature. If you're using OSS products in an enterprise environment, you can surely afford to support its development, so I don't see how you're on the hook in any way. Your support is making the software available to users who don't need or can't afford these features, which is a net positive. Besides, it gives you the freedoms to modify the software in any way that suits you, which you wouldn't get by paying for a proprietary product. If a certain feature is so important to you, and you refuse to pay the original developers for it, you can always choose to develop it internally for yourself, as that user's company did.