I must admit but I am somewhat a tightwad, yes i admit it damnit!
Well, in Linux most things (including the operating systems) are "free" in the sense that they give you freedom: to use, to distribute, and to modify them. However, most things are also "gratis" in the sense that they cost $0.00.
You can install Fedora Core 1 and get an office suite (openoffice), diagramming tool (dia), image manipulation program (gimp), and hundreds of other tools all included and gratis. In my particular case, I wanted the additional support, languages, dictionaries, and tools which StarOffice provides and so I am happy to pay $80 for it. Besides, that is the only thing on my system that costs money as opposed to a $200 OS, a $550 office suite, and a $50 anti-virus ($800 in software total) and my payment helps them to continue developing software for Linux.
Not everything should be "gratis." Some people will not or cannot program for Linux (or anything else) if they don't get paid for it.
-- Rodolfo J. Paiz rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.simpaticus.com
