Greg Crinklaw wrote:

Curmudgeon's idiocy snipped

Yes, that would be the generally accepted meaning of the word, "free."

As used in this example: "give your hard work away 'free' to some
insensitive jerk who slams you for doing so."

One wonders that the fool would suppose to have it that length of time
without an update. I dare say the author is breathing a sigh of relief
that there is one less pecker to moider him for all his hard work.