From the beginning of the Free Software Foundation in 1983 it was always clear that Free software didn't mean you could use the software without paying for it. Free is not the same as Gratis. Free, means freedom. This freedom is embedded in the 4 freedoms. Basicly its the freedom to use, copy, spread, study and change the software. But still we hear the argument that free software never can be of a good quality, based on the assumption its not professional build software. Needless to say this is not true.
There's a lot of talk, like always in some #foss open source communities, about things being 'behind' a paywall. On the other hand, there are quite some #floss developers complaining that they cannot make money. If we want opensource software to be successful, we need some kind of business model. Why shouldn't you pay for software that you are using? Let's pay the developers to make better software, or that they can focus full-time on this nice open source project they are working at. The source will be and is still open source, so there will be no vendor lock-in. You can always take your data and move to a different supplier, because it's open source. There are quite some solutions to this problem. In another blog we discuss about business models, where we show it's possible to earn some bucks.