[pessimizer]

The hippie isn't selling coffee, he's giving it away with terms, but you can clearly lie to the hippie and use the fruits of his labor in a way in which he's specifically asked for them not to be used.

I think your second sentence is the thesis that the metaphor is trying to refute, though. Refusing to give you something under terms that you would like is not removing your freedom any more than any other copyright, it's offering you an option other than growing your own.

[kylec]

Um, the analogy clearly states that the hippie is selling the beans:

    A better comparison would be that someone writing free software is like a hippie
    who grows his own coffee beans and sells them at the side of the road by his farm

[pessimizer]

Wow, I remember actually going back to check that and I still got it wrong. Must have been distracted by something shiny. Criticism still applies, though. Part of the cost of buying the coffee is his terms. He's giving you an option that you didn't have before, but if the cost is too high, there's always Starbucks.

[raganwald]

This is why I used the term “selling.” There’s always an “exchange of consideration” with software that is not placed in the public domain.