It helps if you recognize software as a public good in the economic sense: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good --

It helps if you recognize software as a public good in the economic sense: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good -- a healthy software ecosystem is much like having good street lights and roads. Expansive use of nonfree software is like having tollbooths and occasional dark alleys: it works just fine for some, but there's some loss to society when the economics prevent it from being inclusive.