That's could be part of it, at least for some. However, to me, much more important is the open source nature of things, and not so much that it is free. In fact

That's could be part of it, at least for some. However, to me, much more important is the open source nature of things, and not so much that it is free. In fact, it consider free and proprietary to be worse than something I'd pay for, since I assume I'd be the product. Open source means supporting a collective achievement that is shared by humanity. I use FreeCAD, not because it is better than Fusion 360, and not because one is less expensive, but because the latter is owned by a corporation that exploits knowledge investment (i.e. Free for students, free for everyone to "jk we just wanted you to invest in learning it") The same goes with most Linux software. The only exception is the operating system itself and gnome, which I find to be miles better than the commercial alternatives. It's so much better, it isn't even a contest. Of course, the caveat is software availability, which to some extent also includes drivers. But that is hardly Linux's fault, although that detail makes little difference to the end user. Open source also means, to a much larger extent, the absence of dark patterns. Drivers aren't accompanied by telemetry software with a company logo.