I think part of this is that software is new. I mean really new. If we all just landed on a new continent and started a new civilization we would probably see a

I think part of this is that software is new. I mean really new. If we all just landed on a new continent and started a new civilization we would probably see a lot of 'free' happening as the community built the essentials. Slowly over time new community would come together less to help each other build houses and more and more a robust economy of services and goods would take over. This metaphor doesn't totally explain the opensource world, but I think it is a major driver for a lot of it.