Most paying customers are businesses. Those businesses are definitely not going to be pleased because they have people who personally depend on Slack's free plan. So, they've probably pissed off a significant number of paying customers.
But the company was built on that user growth. They were reporting the numbers to the investors and claiming "2.???; 3. Profit" all along. Especially now, with recession coming (interests rise => expectations of profitability increase), it's unfortunately suddenly important to show real profits.
>It probably pleases the people who were paying you, because now they don't have to subsidise the people who aren't.
Bullshit. It's unclear communication and indecisiveness that pisses people off. If you can't afford it, there is no reason for you to give something for free and then later take it away. People who are paying will feel that samething will happen to them in other ways. You want consistency.
Having something for free but for a brief period of time is actually really inconvenient if you think about it. You are basically forced to move or find some alternative. You want consistency.
Because self-hosting may be easier due to an in-house sysadmin who advocated this for a long time but turned down, or a competitor offer more value with a better price.
Well it pisses off the people who aren't paying you anything.
It probably pleases the people who were paying you, because now they don't have to subsidise the people who aren't.