The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure 
thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion 
of the imagination. Few media of creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and 
rework, so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures. 

Yet the program construct, unlike the poet's words, is real in the sense that it 
moves and works, producing visible outputs separate from the construct itself. It 
prints results, draws pictures, produces sounds, moves arms. The magic of myth 
and legend has come true in our time. One types the correct incantation on a 
keyboard, and a display screen comes to life, showing things that never were nor 
could be. 

Programming then is fun because it gratifies creative longings built deep within 
us and delights sensibilities we have in common with all men. 

from the essay "The Tar Pits"
by Frederick P. Brooks

Even though many feel Free Software defies Brooks Law, I think this statement is at the very core of software development. It is a create outlet.

Wendall