Will the Support Business Model Survive?

A while ago Shaun Connolly at JBoss posted an entry titled “What’s in a Subscription”. Shaun states: “Put simply, a Subscription is comprised of: 1. Software bits 2. Patches and updates to the bits 3. Support in the use of the bits 4. Legal assurance” I am beginning to wonder if, in the long term, the only truly scalable business model for OSS is one that incorporates #1 & #2 on Shaun’s list. When you think about it objectively, purchasing a ‘subscription’ to get “Software bits” and “Patches and updates to the bits” is the model the software industry has been using for decades. The only difference with OSS is that 99% of your users are doing so without paying for the product.