@joseph.heenan Thanks for your feedback!
I agree, if you have an open source project hosted on GitLab.com and require additional minutes, consider applying to the program to benefit from it. We will consider updating the open source program benefits.
We have users using GitLab for different usecases - including only for a repository - in which case CI/CD minutes will not be applicable. The limits are applicable for public projects as well, as highlighted in the FAQ.