If you look at your spring at rest you probably have 1 or 2 very close coils and 2 wide spaced coils.
The close coils give you your compliance and softer ride. Once you lean on them a bit the close coils close and you end up with the stiffer rate of the wider spaced coils.
The wider the spacing the harder the ride.
Think of spring in its raw form as a steel rod. A straight steel rod is solid if you try to compress it over it's length. Put a bend in it and then try to compress it and it will flex. Put some coils in it and it will flex some more.
Linear setups have equal spacing but a standard Subaru strut would not be linear if they were spaced as such. Due to the spring also being tappered. Wider at the bottom than top.
This is also used to create a progressive rating.
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