The -ish is that Medium uses a Metered paywall where three subscriber articles per month are free if you are logged in. So if you end up on one of these books because of a Google search, you'll probably end up getting your answer for free.
But if you want to read more you have to be a subscriber. Launching the Prags is part of upgrading the subscription to make it stronger for programmers. There were already a lot of programmers subscribed, but I think the Prags makes the value of a Medium subscription a lot more clear cut.
I look at Medium as fundamentally a subscription service that happens to be accessible by Google. The Prags are a big upgrade for anyone interested in programming and it's a lot to include in a $5/month service. If Google and social media links only send you to Medium 1 or 2 times a month then it might not yet be a subscription for you. (Yet, because this isn't the last upgrade). It's not fundamentally anyone's goal to put the Prag books online for free (AFAIK). Those books took a lot of author time to write and a lot of paid work to edit and produce. And without the financial piece, I don't think these books would exist, let alone be online.
I don't disagree, but my point is, they are not even free-ish. That's fine. I have no problem paying $5/mo. for access to content like this. I mean, one of these books would cost me $30. That's 6 months worth of Medium access.
The -ish is that Medium uses a Metered paywall where three subscriber articles per month are free if you are logged in. So if you end up on one of these books because of a Google search, you'll probably end up getting your answer for free.
But if you want to read more you have to be a subscriber. Launching the Prags is part of upgrading the subscription to make it stronger for programmers. There were already a lot of programmers subscribed, but I think the Prags makes the value of a Medium subscription a lot more clear cut.