Here's a very nice opinion peice from Alex Steffen of worldchanging.com.
that ties together the rise of free software (linux), hardware (WiFi networks), content (Slashdot, weblogs) in an overarching "Tech Bloom".

Welcome to the Tech Bloom.

The conventional wisdom, during the Tech Boom, was that what drove innovation was the lure of giant piles of cash. That idea now rubs shoulders with the Berlin Wall. What makes creative people tingle are interesting problems, the chance to impress their friends and caffeine. Freed from the pursuit of paper millions, geeks are doing what geeks, by nature, really want to be doing: making cool stuff.

Not just making it, but giving it away. Saying the Tech Bloom is not commercially driven is like saying Mother Teresa had an interest in the poor.