So, you want Octave to sell support contracts because accounting will never do donations. The two examples aren't selling just stooge licenses. In the case of pfsense, they're selling support. That means changing what jwe is doing from developing Octave to handling support calls. In the case of sidekiq, they're actually just selling plain ol' non-free software, which is what open-core is.
jwe will never want to sell non-free software. He's already selling some support and has a few customers, but it's not easy.
I often have heard engineers (who seem to sound angry or offended with the concept of a donation) say things like what you are saying, but I've never figured out how to satisfy them without either (1) just plain selling non-free software or (2) completely changing the focus of the work from developing Octave to doing some mind-numbingly boring task like getting Octave to run on RHEL 5.
you are overcomplicating this. The better examples to look at are pfsense and handsontable. There is really no major distinction between the license and free software. Its basically an "early access right", a special package repo for pro customers and in case pfsense case.. an ebook.
In sidekiq pro case, the "support" is a right to send email. If i may say so, that scales with the money you receive.
How to set it up? take a look at sidekiq - they use https://plasso.com. There are tona of alternatives in this space.
More importantly, we are here to help. Please don't hesitate to ask. Also take a look at indiehackers.com to see how others did it.
lastly - we are not angry.. we are frustrated because we have the ability to help. But open source software creators must empathize with procedures and stupid stuff like accountants. Unfortunately thats unavoidable, no matter how much you want to.
The situation really is complicated if you are committed to the constraint of keeping Octave free.
Sidekiq pro is just selling non-free software. It's not just the right to send email.
My second idea was to move to an open core model: hold
back more complex or enterprise-specific features from
the OSS version, sell those features as an "expansion
pack" on top of Sidekiq. Thus, Sidekiq Pro was born.
This proved to be popular and forms my business today.
I can't tell about handsontable, but it looks like again it's just plain ol' non-free software, although they do seem to let you look at the source code under what sounds like a restrictive license.
pfsense also seems to sell a lot more than just an ebook. They sell backups, what sounds like another non-free addon "plus many more features". Maybe most people don't use any of that extra stuff?
None of this sounds like it's just a matter of selling stooge licenses, and the sidekiq guy even said that selling stooge licenses didn't bring in any noticeable revenue.
I keep hearing from engineers who can't donate that I should do something like sell a box with an Octave CD in it or a piece of paper that says it's a license but not actually do much beyond that, maybe only a vague promise to give priority support.
It's a donation in all but in name so that the accounting department will approve it.
So, you want Octave to sell support contracts because accounting will never do donations. The two examples aren't selling just stooge licenses. In the case of pfsense, they're selling support. That means changing what jwe is doing from developing Octave to handling support calls. In the case of sidekiq, they're actually just selling plain ol' non-free software, which is what open-core is.
jwe will never want to sell non-free software. He's already selling some support and has a few customers, but it's not easy.
I often have heard engineers (who seem to sound angry or offended with the concept of a donation) say things like what you are saying, but I've never figured out how to satisfy them without either (1) just plain selling non-free software or (2) completely changing the focus of the work from developing Octave to doing some mind-numbingly boring task like getting Octave to run on RHEL 5.