Agreed. The reason I became a programmer is because of all the wonderful people who decided it was worth their while to share their code for free. Being able to do the same for others is a privilege.
I think the counterpoint to that is that working and sharing code for free < working and sharing code for free... and eating.
As my father once told me, "Son, anything worth getting is worth asking for."
Share your talent freely with those who need it, strike a fair bargain with those who can afford it, and sleep comfortable in having made the world a better place.
Or, in other words, pure altruism isn't sustainable.
In other words, you can't exclude yourself from "altruism" while expecting it to actually accomplish what you intend for it to accomplish. If you exclude yourself, you'll just create a situation where others have to come and help you, because you're not sustaining yourself. Which, in that sense, is not an altruistic thing to do for another.
So in that sense, the prevalent definition of "altruism" is that of a dysfunctional thing. Maybe it should be called "wholism" or "everyoneism", maybe its definition needs to change -- in our minds and actions first, of course.
