> without at minimum ponying up a credit card and signing up for a free trial

You're right, there's a bit more friction before you can install and use a project, but I think if a user gives enough value to a certain open source project then that friction shouldn't be enough to deter them from using it altogether.

It's also worth mentioning that once you input credit card information and connect your paypal account, you never have to do it again for future subscriptions. You just go to a payment page, hit 'Subscribe' and install the package, all in a matter of seconds.

Here's a bit more information about how subscriptions work: https://gitroyalty.com/docs/faq/how-do-subscriptions-work