> I strongly doubt that the non-military usage of the system came at no
> cost either originally or since. Suppose for example that the US
> military no longer required GPS. The body that oversees the programme is
> mandated to provide civilian use positioning signals.
>
> Do you think the system would be shutdown and the satellites de-orbited?

I guess that would cost money too, although I don't know how much.

> Do you think there would be any way to start charging for all of the
> continuing users?

There's probably a way of doing that. No idea what it would cost to 
implement. Nor how many people would continue to use the system if it 
wasn't free.

>> Nobody *needs* Facebook to exist, and nobody *pays* for it to exist.
>> [Some people pay to put adverts on it, but they don't actually care
>> about FB itself. They just want lots of people to see ads.] Every single
>> extra person who accesses FB increases the costs for the operators
>> (unlike GPS). So yes, you're being sold.
>>
>
> By the same logic, advertising funded television stations, radio
> stations, newspapers, sporting events, billboards and more don't *need*
> to exist. They are just vehicles to carry advertising to consumers. The
> actual content is secondary. I don't see much difference between those
> and Facebook.

Facebook sells its users as a product. Newspapers sell their readers as 
a product. Um... yeah, I don't see much difference either.

>> Now figure this out: It costs money to access the Debian website. Who
>> the **** is paying for that?
>
> No idea. Somebody or some organisation that benefits from Debian and
> wants it to be active and healthy?

Hmm, interesting. Apparently [some of] the web servers are provided by 
the same company as runs my website. Except that they charge me money. 
Hmm. I wander how Debian got this stuff for free?

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