Even though I now live in a somewhat "higher" wage country, when I was young I lived in a low-wage country. Granted it was also a different time (late 1990s) b

Even though I now live in a somewhat "higher" wage country, when I was young I lived in a low-wage country. Granted it was also a different time (late 1990s) but Open Source actually allowed me to get interested and have a career in programming. I could install Linux, have access to good programming tools and literally study the source code. I would buy magazines with CDs packed with OSS ready to use, study and play with. I would probably never be able to afford closed source tools, manuals, etc.