Linus wrote Linux initially as an exercise to learn about writing kernels for i386. That it was just a hobby and not intended to be professional was even in the

Linus wrote Linux initially as an exercise to learn about writing kernels for i386. That it was just a hobby and not intended to be professional was even in the initial release announcement. It is also possible to view Stallman as having written gcc and emacs so that he could live according to his own moral views with regards to software. That other people benefit from these pieces of software seems to be an altruistic component of Stallman's ethical worldview but ultimately a side effect of Stallman's personal goal of not needing to touch proprietary software. If Stallman was willing to compromise on his moral convictions, it is likely that neither gcc nor emacs would exist as they do today.