Re: why on Earth give this away for free to everyone on the planet
One of the worst parts of working for the oxymoronically named "Intelligence Community" is that if you succeed in doing something cool, it has to be kept utterly secret - if the "bad guys" know (how) they've been pwned, they fix it. It's why sources and methods are the real secrets, though most things that are classified are simply done to hide some misfeasance.
On the other hand, if you screw up and it gets out, it's on the front page of every paper on earth.
This makes job satisfaction - and talent retention, as well as acquisition, much more difficult.
All smart nerds like props when they do something cool. No matter their politics.
So you're partly right.