What alternatives do people have to monetize software in a more ethical way?

I particularly don’t understand the funding that some software receive. What they have to grant to receive those funds?

I also search for some type of monetization “model” better than donations, but more ethical than ads.

If it’s too much to explain I would be grateful for terms or books that I could search later.

  • danb@feddit.uk
    7·
    3 hours ago

    I run my project from donations, sponsorships and paid support services. Am now more than covering my living costs, and forwarding a fair bit on to other open source projects (mainly project dependencies). I have a recent breakdown of finances here.

    • HappinessPill@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      2 hours ago

      Thanks, that’s very useful, I noticed that the the donations are a in a low amount compared to the rest of the income, but it is more stable, if possible could you share your experience with the ko-fi platform and donations? Do you think it is an visibility problem, since it’s hard to break from dev sphere to mainstream?