There is a huge benefit to it. The primary motivations for current progress might be financial but there is a significant body of voluntary work that is instrumental to the progress of this community. Apollo is one such example, as I'm sure you're well aware being involved with it to the degree you have been.
Not once have I said there is anything wrong with marketing or selling a product or anything like that. Your work, your time, sell it. Good shit.
But we really are heavily indebted to the community as a whole, so many programmers would not even be here today without the good will of users like Graham, super_, frank, etc. You probably learned a great deal from them no? Did they ever charge you?