alt Hacker NewsI would not ask a taxi driver to give me free rides, but if I could invent and give away magical free teleportation, which would immediately obviate the need for taxi drivers, I would. If I could snap my fingers and conjure the revenants of past plumbers whose existence on the earthly plane served to do nothing but put plumbers out of business by providing services gratis, I'd do that too.
If I were a talented writer and had the ability to produce content as engaging as Peter Watts', I'd put it online for free.
Whatever 'harm' I might do to other authors or taxi drivers or plumbers with this practice is far outweighed by the good that is done to the world by its release.
This reminds me of the book reviewer who was complaining that they tried to pay her in books. She pointed out to her employers that while she loved books, she needed to be able to buy and pay for things.
You can be altruistic as you want, but unless you are a hermit living off the grid in the forest, you will almost certainly have to pay living expenses.