Is there a bright future for open software projects?

[A]

Hi all,
For  some time I am thinking about what firms or  programmers  can afford to develop
open/free software. I myself have been using free programming languages ( Perl and now 
Python) for about 4 years.But it seems to me very difficult to develop free software because 
either I can program only when I have free time and then the development is going very 
slowly or someone must pay for the software anyway because  programmers must also 
earn money to   live  and then why and who should pay for free software?
And my question:
Is it possible to develop open(FREE) software that is  better or at least of same quality like 
paid software?
What companies like ActiveState.com or similar live on if they offer free software?
Best regards and thanks to all who still develop FREE software.
Ladislav