I don't expect to be compensated for the code. I believe information wants to be free and the only way to capture value (voluntarily) is by providing a service based on that information.

I think that's ultimately why substack works better than medium - it is paid for and marketed as delivery and discovery of information. It's why they also have chat and comments. Beyond goodwill and support, we will pay for everything but the information itself.

I sympathize with content producers though. Producing information is hard enough already. No one wants to have to provide a service too.

It's more common, and more scalable given the nature of the medium, but I'm not sure it's easier. I do think other content producers are learning information wants to be free later than programmers did.