Granted it is still in almost a cult stage the LiteStep community is growing. I can't see that either of them is really going out on a limb with this. While I'm sure Quick Time and Open Vault are no small money makers, They are things both of these companies will survive without. This could almost be looked at as one of the oldest advertising ploys, 'give something away for free, just to get your name out in front of everyone's face'.
Every company makes errors.