Also, that idea of “if you don’t pay, you’re the product” was a nice slogan but it isn’t true. Open-source software is free and respects you, while streaming services these days charge you money while serving you ads.
That "nice slogan" is emphatically true.
And lots more don’t. The difference is so large that the ones who do offer commercial support are a rounding error in comparison.
> And the truly free-as-in-beer projects either have some kind of grant financing or else the maintainer shoulders the costs until they burn out.
Those aren’t the only options, that is a false dichotomy. But even if it were true, it in no way contradicts the argument.
> That "nice slogan" is emphatically true.
It emphatically is not, and you are ignoring half the argument. You can pay and still be the product.