> Despite Headscale's unofficial status, Tailscale seems to be fully supportive of its efforts; Tailscale has coordinated with Headscale's creator on API changes and hired one of Headscale's maintainers.

I have noticed an interesting change psychology arising from behavior such as this. I am more likely to use Tailscale (at the very least professionally, if not personally) instead of the free/OSS version because of this goodwill. Another example is Aeotec, who produce Z-Wave appliances. Aeotec's cooperation with the community (in terms of firmware) gives me significantly more confidence in the longevity of their devices.

Sadly, I don't think this psychology is ever going to become pervasive. People like what they already like.