"It may seem like a strange motivation to you, but sometimes people say things because they want people to hear them, make things because they want people to look at them and use them, and write things because they want people to read them." - Hacker News user pessimizer

I really don't think I could have better distilled the essence of why I program as both a living and as a hobby.

I was once explaining to someone entirely unfamiliar with software development, much less free and open source software, that I put much of my code out on the internet for anyone to freely use as they see fit. This idea seemed appalling and downright dangerous to them. "What if someone uses it without paying you!?" they asked with a stunned look of horror and concern. "That's the point. I would be ecstatic if someone found something I had written to be useful. It's why I do what I do."

Getting paid to program is awesome, but I'd still do it either way.