What in the world are you talking about? We’re living in the golden age of free software. It’s doing better than it ever has before, and even Microsoft and Apple are enthusiastically contributing to it.

Even Microsoft doesn't think that anymore.

This. FOSS can be monetized by making it an investment rather than a product: offer services, let the software free then get paid for support and customized patches. This works, unless one wants to keep the money flowing while twiddling thumbs.