SQLite probably never took VC money, yes. People pay them for work.

Many, many people working on Linux work for companies that pay them to work on Linux. Linux is not, and I don't believe has ever claimed to be, community-funded.

Nginx was bought, a couple of times maybe, so they have had cash injections of some sort.

> We need more ways to fund infrastructure that don't require artificial monetization timelines.

Funding infrastructure isn't the problem, exactly. VC is for a specific type of funding: risky businesses that need scale to make money. We have found the answer: VCs, who are willing to lose all their money on your project.