[colesantiago]

Would it be best to be closed source and pay to get the source code with 1 year updates, (except say license server unless you're enterprise)?

That way the author can still keep the source closed and those who want code can pay for it.

I very rarely see OSS being monetized successfully without a community fork destroying the original project.

OSS still requires money to maintain the project and sparse donations really don't really cut it.