Or, to put it another way, because when you do that it is, by definition, no longer open source. To be clear, this model exists, and is adopted by lots of star

Or, to put it another way, because when you do that it is, by definition, no longer open source. To be clear, this model exists, and is adopted by lots of startups and OSS companies when they decide revenue is necessary. But at that point they are no longer OSS and typically their very customer base, who have been selected because they care about OSS defect. A golf club attracts members who want to play golf. Tennis is more profitable so they bulldoze the golf course and build tennis courts. Don't expect the current members, who were there to play golf to hang around. If you are starting a business I encourage you to figure out the revenue model first, not as an afterthought. Hint "getting lots of users" is not a revenue model.