[alien_]

I'd probably offer some sort of support/consultancy services and prioritize the work of the paying users, making it clear when filing github issues and pull requests. This could easily sustain you in a passive income way so you can spend most of your time working on things that matter more to humanity.

[eloff]

Yeah, I think especially in finance companies would be willing to pay for support and feature development. There has to be a way to monetize the project and make it so at least it pays for your time.

There's nothing wrong with a labor of love, but the companies using your software can afford to pay for your time.

[kilroy123]

But then it's a job and he/she probably won't like it anymore.

[alien_]

That's okay, it doesn't need to be a full-time job, but more like a "4 hour work week" mini-job that pays the bills with minimal ongoing effort.

The rest of the time could be spent doing other more interesting things that just bring joy and/or benefit humankind.

They'll probably also have further potential for monetization, and so on, sustaining a life of leisure and doing meaningful work.