Unworkable request

For me this comes, as usual, down to the question of whether free software is a means to an end (or perhaps to several) or whether it is an end in itself. And whether people are quite honest about which it is. I can quite understand it being an end in itself for people who like that sort of thing (I do myself), but then wanting to impose it on others as a duty is like asking them to pay for your pleasures.

On the other hand, if you see free software as a means to some end (and I do see it as a useful tool for several noble purposes) you sometimes have to ask the question of whether it is worth insisting on it in a particular situation, or whether there are better means of advancing your aims.