Insomnium

That's all good, and I hope they're happy, but they shouldn't expect their audience to stick around if they start to ruin the project that got them there.

Sure, but why does it always have to lead to users getting the short end of the stick? Why can't they accept money and NOT screw over the users? And if the choice is between "Take VC money and screw users" and "Reject VC money and happy users", why do 99% of the people take the first option? They're most likely software developers (as this is the context), so it isn't really a choice between "uncomfortable life" or "comfortable life", there is something more going on here.

This is not what I said. I meant that users should contribute and not expect FOSS projects as a separate channel of getting material for their corporate work.

That bag full of cash will keep being a bag full of cash but the passion project will likely become driven by whoever hands you the bag and will head towards their goals, not yours. Anyway you'll keep the cash. It's not different from what the vast majority of us do with our jobs every day.

The plumber doesn't start to install additional pipes that require an annual fee, or spying on me "because you know, nothing to hide", or any other nonsense we are seeing in software.