"other than being free" This is ambiguous - you might be clued up on this, but many aren't, so I want to comment. If you say that you are free, it doesn't mean we can have you for no money - it means we can't lock you up at all. You are Free. It's a recent historical development to equate freedom with price (and I think it's also a nasty comment on what our current societies value). Free Software is software that can't be taken away from people. That's the entire idea - freedom. Some people are willing to donate their work for others to use and license it so that no one can take it away. Some go as far as licensing their code so that anyone that wants to base their work on it must contribute their improvements back to the community as well - otherwise, write your own from scratch, and then you can do as you like with it. I live in a society that wants me to earn and have money and I don't have a problem with that. I code for my living and I'm valued for it. I don't mind working with a group of others (a "Company" of others) to provide something of value we can be paid for. No problem. At the same time, I value building up a body of software anyone can work with as long as they are community-minded. I think this is a good thing and benefits all of us to some extent. I license several projects I have written under free licenses. So keep in mind Freedom != $0 Those are very different. Cheers bcw1000