There have been tons of alternatives and they all sucked in different ways - either they were bloated (no, a news reader does not need "far more features") or they weren't free.
If a product sucks only because it isn’t free, then the product itself is literally worthless. How do people expect someone to provide them something worthwhile for free.
That's the thing. I think people forget just how much FOSS software, tools, assets and knowledge is out there that we all benefit from enormously every single day. Even if you're not a dev, most of the websites we visit, the apps we use, the technology underpinning our phones and computers relies in part or in whole on Free and Open Source Software.
I take it for granted but it's important to remember what an amazing thing that is.