Thanks, that was an inspiring video. I've already come to appreciate the power of community (love, according to Clay :), in communities like dd-wrt and cyanogenmod where the quality of collectively contributed firmware beats by miles that provided by the parent hardware vendors. And what's even better is that those enjoying these benefits are willing to give back - best example was when cyanogenmod called for contributions to buy new servers recently. The response was overwhelming and they received more than they needed in no time at all.

The other nice story carried on HN was how Linux Torvalds was remembered by the Red Hat folks with a nice payback in shares as a thank you for everything he did.

The internet really helps too, allowing a dollar here and a dollar there to really add up when genuinely appreciative people make voluntary donations. Bram Cohen is a good example here, who receives well deserved donations from all the folks who love bittorrent.

I believe this model of giving (and the return karma) augurs well for society. There is room for a lot of hope and optimism.