It's not just giving away, but getting. You get an enormous amount for free and it fuels the software industry: Operating systems, programming languages, networ

It's not just giving away, but getting. You get an enormous amount for free and it fuels the software industry: Operating systems, programming languages, network protocols, Unicode, applications like the web and email, codecs, information about almost everything (e.g., on HN), ... almost infinitely more. Would things work better if you paid for every one of those? How much free do you have to contribute to get all these things in return? The network effect creates an incredible ratio, in part because moving bits is nearly free. Ask the inverse question: Why would we pay when we can exchange these things for free? Edit: Also, if you want to change the world, to contribute to it, freedom often facilitates that.