Hey everyone,
So I am updating the membership pages.
I would like to have a couple of testimonials from real people on why they chose to pay to support us. This should encourage more people to opt for the Plus membership.
If you would like to be featured on It’s FOSS as a valuable supporter, please let me know. It will be great help to us 
Are only paid members real people ?
I do keep thinking must subscribe after almost 10 years of being on the site,
Perhaps it needs to be clear what members would gain from paying.
Being from Yorkshire “if ever owt fer nowt - allus do it fer thissen” basically translated we all like free things, which does not help you with running costs which must be quite high.
It’s now almost impossible to read a newspaper on line without paying.
We all appreciate what you do and offer.
Hi Abhishek,
I’d be more than happy to help you with whatever you need, but I’ve always had this question and it’s still on my mind: I believe there are several types of memberships in IT’S FOSS, but I don’t know the differences, and I don’t think I’m a Plus member - just a Pro member - so I won’t be able to give my testimonial.
Perhaps it would be helpful if you could explain here in this thread the different types of subscriptions available, what they grant access to, and even how lifetime members can contribute to IT’S FOSS again.
Thank you for everything you do to keep this community alive
Jorge
I too am confused.
I am happy to help , but I do not want go be seen as anything exceptional … just another user please.
I always thought you were a Plus member. Not that it changes anything 
Current benefits for lifetime members are:
| Benefits | Free | Plus (Monthly) | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad-free reading |  |
 |
|
| eBooks | |
|
|
| Community badge | |
|
|
| Future perks | |
|
|
| Price | Free | $7/mo | $149 once |
| Recurring billing | -– | |
Never |
If you are tight on budget, I should tell you that there will be some discount on lifetime membership in 2nd week of june when It’s FOSS Turns 14.
Thank you. I’ll send you details on what is needed separately.
Pro and Plus are the same things. It’s just “paid members”. Tagging @nevj as it was a common confusion for both of you.
I mix them often and I should not be doing that 
You may need to remind us closer to that date
And how to pay
Hi @abhishek,
I am not a Pro or Plus member. I do look at the weekly newsletter and I used the word “look” and not read because 99% of the time none of the info is a help to me.
Why? I suppose I am not your typical Linux person. I was even told once I was not even a “real” Linux user. I have used Linux for the past 7 years and been a member of this forum for the past 6 years or so. But because I can not command the CLI or even be consider an Admin type person, I am just a “user” of Linux.
Tho not a Plus member and therefore do not support this forum financially, I feel I have support this forum for a long time and have contribute to some of the questions and discussions presented here.
I do wish to “Thank you” for having this forum available for it has help me in many ways.
Best regards,
Howard
Hi @abhishek
I just chose to pay because I think you guys deserve it. To be honest I don’t see any advantage as a paying user I could read the articles at It’s Foss and participate in this fantastic community site even as a non-paying user…
Thank you @plino
About advantages… I had thought of it several times in the past.
I could restrict some content for paying members only. But that goes against our goal of free Linux education. So that’s an ethical boundary.
I think of making fun puzzles and quizzes only for paying members. But that’s not an advantage worth paying for everyone.
And hence I included some eBooks in it. But eBooks are not as lucrative as it was 10 years back.
I am thinking of organizing existing content into course format and put them on a separate portal. Micro courses on specific topic. This could be worth paying for. Since it will be made from existing content, it is still accessible to everyone, just not in an organized format.
I would like to know, what kinds of advantage would have made you opt for paid membership more easily?
I think most people pay because your site is in accord with some principle that they feel strongly about. Advantages are a bonus not a reason.
Not an easy question to answer, books are no use to me, I don’t do well at quiz . I like tutorials but generally only watch the bit I need not them all.
Quite often if I come to a pay wall I just look elsewhere for an answer that is free.
Neville is correct
Not an easy question to answer for me either…
I can’t really say, other than a nice feeling inside, what the benefits are since I signed up for life membership…
It’s good to contribute other than just opinionated advice or hijacking threads with irreverant content
Hi @abhishek
Yes, I agree. The Freemium model where non-paying users get a limited/crippled version of the product/site does not make sense here.
I agree with @nevj and @callpaul.eu : Advantages are a bonus not a reason
Answering your question: TBH I can not think of an advantage that would make me pay more easily… Swag (gifts) are nice but they only work once… For the long run, I have no idea what offer could motivate users to donate regularly but one thing that works for sure is to keep up the useful posts on It’s Foss…
Hi Abhishek,
Allow me to digress for a moment to give a brief example: every year around April, whenever I visit Wikipedia, I see a banner at the top of the page asking for a donation to help keep Wikipedia running, and once I make the donation, the banner disappears.
The amount is whatever we want to donate, and I usually contribute to Wikipedia. However, if that banner didn’t appear every year, I wouldn’t contribute. Why?
Because I’m not reminded to do so (I can’t remember the last time I contributed, but when I look at the emails, I see that it’s an annual thing), but I face no restrictions if I don’t contribute—in other words, I can use Wikipedia without any restrictions.
Wikipedia goes even further: for example, if the donation is made via PayPal, it asks if I mind covering the fee charged to them so that they can receive the full amount of the donation, and we just have to decide whether or not to do so before sending the money. In the end, we receive an email—from the CEO, if I’m not mistaken—thanking us for helping to keep Wikipedia free.
My suggestion is to do something similar on the forum, and anyone who wants to contribute can do so starting without a minimum amount.
The banner serves as a reminder for those who have contributed but may have forgotten, and if Discourse doesn’t have a notification management module, I don’t think there would be any problem, for example, with displaying a banner on the main page every three months for 15 days.
We all use the forum, but if no one contributes, it ceases to exist—it’s that simple.
The real value we have is the forum itself and the people who are always ready to help.
I believe this is the crux of the matter: how to keep IT’S FOSS going? Through donations on IT’S FOSS Community
If I may offer some constructive criticism, there should be a small banner (I’m thinking of “Buy me a Coffee”) always visible on the forum. I hope I’m very wrong, but it’s possible that most users don’t know how to contribute to the forum.
I know you mentioned IT’S FOSS, but for me, the “heart” of IT’S FOSS is the IT’S FOSS Community.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate: “Would I rather pay to take Course X, gain access to puzzles, or continue as a user of the IT’S FOSS Community?
I’m being extremely critical, but constructively so, because I can’t even imagine how much work goes into writing the articles you produce. I could do without the articles, but the forum is a different story.
PLEASE NOTE: far be it from me to criticize anything. I’m just trying to say, in my humble opinion, that the path forward could be in a different direction, but I’m nobody to say so.
The work you’ve been doing is incredible, and I’m completely grateful to you for it.
Regards,
Jorge
Great idea, except I want to pay in euros and not face bank charges where they make more money than the recipients
Abhishek,
I’m sorry to bring up the issue of placing a donation icon on the forum again.
On IT’S FOSS, in the “About” section, you have a “Donate button” - there is exactly what I suggested for the forum, for example, a “Donate button” in the top bar, example:
Jorge
Thank you for the appreication and sharing your views.
I don’t want/like to nudge people about donating or supporting us with money. It just feels not right to keep on ‘bothering’ people about donating. I understand that it works for Wikipedia and a lot of other organizations.
Perhaps I should be less hesitant on this front.
A banner on the header is a nice idea. I’ll put the Ko-Fi link on the forum
Yes, that is much less intrusive than the Wikipedia approach.
Ok its clear now can see it and click etc good move
But what if I want membership year or life does that continue or not ?
Just thinking about user options