I've seen about my billionth discussion about the splintering of linux distributions.  The simple fact that choice doesn't make people interested in using something.  If that made people happy, then blank paper would be the internet!  Nothing allows open choices like a blank piece of paper - but you have to do the work.  When you stare at a blank piece of paper, your mind churns with ideas but it takes time to put anything interesting or useful down.  (See writer's block)

 Who wants to write their own daily paper from scratch every day - no one!  We pay to have someone deliver it to our doors.  Who even wants to write their own news?  Eck!  Who wants to compile their own software...or debug their kernel dumps?

Linux has all the choices you could possibly want, but not one variant has all of the features most want/need.  Some call this progress because you get to make a choice, but it isn't.  Its just an overly splintered OS.  Just build one version that does all of this stuff (well of course).  If all these linux developers were forced to work on a single linux version, it would be incredible!  We'd have a featureful, stable OS for most everyones needs.  This could take down Microsoft, nothing less will. 

So its clear by market analysis, psychoanalysis, etc, that the primary key to a software's success is not how free it is, but rather how featureful it is.  Linux is horrible at providing a standard process for configuration modification.  Every config file could be in about a dozen different locations with a dozen different syntaxes...just in the last 6 months.  ;)

I think if the linux community had the kohones they could reverse their years of wallowing in about a year by picking a single variant and closing development on all others.  Within 356 days this OS would be close to useful for everyone.  Within another 365 days it would be robust.  Microsoft stock would plunge as vendor after vendor noticed business after business switch to OneLinux and introduce useful solutions.  I call it the two year plan.  I would also think that goverments would appreciate this consolidation and follow suit by promoting this OS.  Within 5 years, the market would be able to support multiple variants again (but a controlled few) allowing for those special needs.  But the key reason why only one variant of linux is required to make this all work is the developers and the geek community simply can't agree on working for the common good very well and there aren't enough people developing to support more than that (See the list of poor quality and insecure linux distributions here).

So charge as little as you want...I'll download it, but I'll gladly buy something that has what I need and does it well.