> And second, ignoring the fact that non-free software (mostly) got us where we are today in terms of progress. Did this progress happen because or despite it

> And second, ignoring the fact that non-free software (mostly) got us where we are today in terms of progress. Did this progress happen because or despite it is/was non-free? Would there be less progress with free software? I don't buy that without a really compelling argument why everything being free software would actually hinder progress to a strongly noticeable degree. Software not practically being free is also a relatively new concept, a lot of progress did happen before nevertheless.