A non-profit sells membership stakes and&#x2F;or asks for donations as their safest forms of revenue.<p>Selling a product [even as a software license], iirc, is a legal mess akin to what he is complaining about.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irs.gov&#x2F;Charities-&amp;-Non-Profits&#x2F;Unrelated-Business-Income-Tax" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irs.gov&#x2F;Charities-&amp;-Non-Profits&#x2F;Unrelated-Busine...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irs.gov&#x2F;Charities-&amp;-Non-Profits&#x2F;Charitable-Organizations&#x2F;Unrelated-Business-Income-Tax-Exceptions-and-Exclusions" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irs.gov&#x2F;Charities-&amp;-Non-Profits&#x2F;Charitable-Organ...</a><p>So you&#x27;d need to be careful not to stray out of those exemptions which means you can&#x27;t pay people among other things. Patio11 really just wants to shift the tax compliance mess onto the OSS which I sort of get but at the same is alot more convoluted than a business donation in the US.<p>Unrelated business income is a very risky business for any sort of non-profit endeavor because it risks you losing your non-profit status.<p>Patio11 is basically saying &quot;Run a for-profit company for FOSS&quot; operations.