There’s a distinction between the maker of the OS/hardware and an independent vendor trying to monetize the tools. The OS/hardware maker’s primary interest is

There’s a distinction between the maker of the OS/hardware and an independent vendor trying to monetize the tools. The OS/hardware maker’s primary interest is in selling more OS or hardware, so it makes sense for them to give away the tools (or their work enhancing the already-free tools) that enable more and better applications. An independent tool vendor is in a different position, and there have always been vendors with better tools, maybe for a specialized market, or maybe just going above and beyond what comes for free, which is what Mold tries to do. In other words, it’s clear to everyone now that the essential tools should be free, but surely not that all tools should be free!