As for being unable to make a living coding, I'm not sure I agree. It's tough luck if you want to write compilers and gcc makes it hard to get any attention, but if you have something to offer, it's a shame you can't find a way to get it out there.

To claim there is no way to write interesting things is akin to Tim O'Reilly claiming there's no need for good technical books. Just as ORA has been a great resource on things that are already documented, there are lots of improvements to be made in existing code as well as integration or "glue" apps.

The FSF and GPL just seems unreasonably idealistic. I don't have a problem with someone retaining ownership of or maybe charging a license fee for unique original work. But if you remove the ability to provide for oneself or one's family, we may see software development become the province of the young and carefree (and inexperienced). And how does that benefit the industry or the world as we know it?