Q: Are there any plans to expand hex.pm to help authors of packages capture some of the value they created?

Details: The creators and contributors to the Erlang and Elixir ecosystems have created amazing value, but capturing some of that value is not an easy task. An occasional package developer might take it on and build their one-off payment mechanisms (e.g. Oban Pro’s neat subscription machinery), while most others treat their open source contributions as after-work activities, “for exposure,” or for fun. These are great approaches, but they are also limited in terms of appeal and sustainability in a world where we need to pay our bills.

If the author of a package is able to capture some of the value they have created, it might be easier for them to justify dedicating their bandwidth to the package, over longer periods of time. This will likely lead to more high-quality, sustained contributions to the ecosystem.

If anyone can pull this off as an actual positive-sum solution, and an actual Pareto improvement – rather than another example of the Tragedy of the Commons, killing something amazing by privatizing its value – it’s the Elixir team. ; )

Here is one way this might look like:

1. As a developer, I can use my hex.pm account to “buy” or otherwise contribute to packages I use or otherwise want to support. My hex.pm account comes with a build key that I use in my mix.exs when fetching my dependencies. mix deps.get performs validation of packages’ policy.

2. As a package author, I can attach a pricing structure to future versions of my package (e.g. “free”, “free for _” / “paid for __”, “paid”, “one-time payment”, “subscription”, “free but appreciate contributions”, “free, with a build-time message”).

3. hex.pm provides: account/build key management, payments/distribution, and mix deps.get / mix deps.update verifications. hexpm can also provide a bit of curation, reducing the likelihood of fraudulent packages (perhaps contributing to Elixir’s OpenChain initiative). This handling comes with a fee that supports hexpm’s own sustainability and operations (but without the profit-maximization motive).

(This is just an initial draft of possible behavior.)

Helping package authors capture some of the value they have created for the community seems to have a big upside for the community, but, clearly, this is also a non-trivial project to get right. I am wondering what folks here think about this.

I am very interested in your thoughts.