One thing that doesnt get mentioned on this site as much as you might think is the incredible community support for GPL/GNU users. For example: recently I had some troubles building gcc on my machine. Within hours of joining the gcc helplist, I had people practically begging to give me advice and moral support. Same goes for my GPL mapping software, GMT -- members of the community are excited about helping each other out, and the expertise of thousands of hackers, professionals and gurus can solve most problems very quickly.
In contrast, imagine what would happen if I had problems with a Visual C++ compiler? My only recourse would be painstakingly searching through millions and millions of online white papers, which might not even lead to a solution. Their best advice would be to reinstall something. The same goes for most other software/hardware companies, including Adobe, Macromedia and Corel.
I hate to compare Tux's world to the marines, but the strength of community I have found and thanked god for is infinitely incredible. Praise FSF!
