[sethhochberg]

I think Canonical does a pretty great job of this.

If I download an Ubuntu Server ISO, I get my download immediately, but the page has a nice prompt to register for a whitepaper to get the most out of my new server product.

If I download the Ubuntu Desktop ISO, I still get my download immediately, but additionally I see some nice prompts about donating to support their operations.

Everything about both flows inspires trust that they aren't trying to withhold my download for the sake of selling consulting services or soliciting donations.

[josteink]

> If I download the Ubuntu Desktop ISO, I still get my download immediately

Actually you have to click past a "please donate some money" nagging dialogue.

It may be a little annoying (at least if you download ISOs all the time), but it's obvious what they are asking for, not to mention why.

And it's definitely not dishonest, so it doesn't tarnish their reputation as a trust-worthy company.

[merb]

no they changed it. you click on download now and you can donate money while downloading. (https://imgur.com/a/TMDYaX8)

[WillMoggridge]

It actually just changed (less than 24 hours ago). The download now starts while showing a donation page in the background.

[GlitchMr]

I downloaded Ubuntu about a week ago, the download started while showing a donation page. The change is older than 24 hours ago.

[r3bl]

It's almost as if companies roll out features to a certain percentage of users to test them before rolling them out to everyone.

[buybackoff]

Even MySQL community download has a small link at the bottom "No thanks, just start my download.", but no registration is possible despite two very huge buttons that just scream to sign up or sign in to an Oracle account.

[zaarn]

The MySQL download page is how I ended up with 3 oracle accounts because I always forgot I had one. The small "no thanks just download" button is (was) very deceptive.

[buybackoff]

Same. At some point the link was very small and almost invisible.

[ryanmcdonough]

Have you donated or signed up for those white papers so far? If so how many times/how much?

[keithpeter]

Desktop end user: I donated to Ubuntu, and to Debian via SPI, and a bit to OpenBSD when they had their funding wobble. Since 2015 I've been using Slackware and bought a DVD subscription (it turns out that the Slackware BDfL wasn't getting much of the income from the sale of the DVDs or merchandise so I donated again recently).

We are talking the price of a hipster coffee per fortnight here, but a few thousand people putting that on a recurring payment adds up.

For organisations like Docker I'm wondering if the RStudio model would be viable? The 'enterprise' subscription is something like $995 a year and can thus be budgeted for &c.

[reitanqild]

I sometimes do.

I also sometimes buy apps even if I'm not really sure I'll keep using them (sometimes just to encourage them to continue),

and keep subscribing to a newspaper even if I don't often read subscriber only content (since they sometimes have some great investigations && I want to support them but don't want to disable Adblock).

What I don't do:

- most monthly subscriptions that isn't payment for an actual service .

[naibafo]

Well they did have mishaps like the Amazon search previously