You keep confusing the cost of developing software with the free to use as you like. I've never said anything about who paid for the software (either in time or money) just that the software was given away, ie. it's free to use as you like. This free software is the basis of all of the software we have today. In fact if you've ever read The Cathedral and the Bazaar it could be argued that some of the highest quality software came out of this process of releasing it and the source code for free. There is a reason that so many other pieces of software have been started with these free ones as their base.
Now, I know 'free to use as you like' is completely anti-Apple in every way (well actually when Woz was still around, iirc the Apple II came with complete hardware specs so you could hack it, but I digress), but Steve Jobs doesn't know everything I may or may not need my computer for.
I write custom software for companies whose core business has nothing to do with software. What they do with it after I write it doesn't matter much to me. I've also written linux kernel patches in the past to fix my own minor issues (or as a part of school projects), but I've never had any accepted into the main kernel. I also post lots of code on various message boards as answers to peoples questions, etc...
Now that you got me thinking though, I need to start charging for every thing I write. I can't do anything because it would be fun or cool or helpful to others. So the next time I see a question pop up that I could write that piece of code in my sleep, I'll first ask for $5. Thanks for the idea!