Not sure what I think about the subscription idea. That seems a lot like a support contract; and then what's the added value of having this site in the middle of the transaction?
"A lot like a support contract" is precisely what this is intended to be. The reason for having the site in the middle is that the vast majority of open source software developers don't have a clue about how to negotiate and manage a support contract.
When I first started thinking about this, I started at "we need to make it simpler for open source developers to sell support contracts" -- it was only a few weeks later that I decided that it might make a lot of sense to combine "support contract" with "some people will simply want to contribute, whether they get anything back or not".
"A lot like a support contract" is precisely what this is intended to be. The reason for having the site in the middle is that the vast majority of open source software developers don't have a clue about how to negotiate and manage a support contract.
When I first started thinking about this, I started at "we need to make it simpler for open source developers to sell support contracts" -- it was only a few weeks later that I decided that it might make a lot of sense to combine "support contract" with "some people will simply want to contribute, whether they get anything back or not".