I agree insofar as that your average 'geek' has a far different definition of 'usability' than the majority of computer users and that, until relatively recently, free software was written by geeks and for geeks.

However, I am moderately jaded by the notion of usability defined as being "no learning required" - for example, which is more usable, vi or MS notepad? Anyone who has put in the effort would surely be able to use the former far more effectively than the latter, despite the difference in immediate accessibility.

It sort of muddies the water a little, I know, but I just don't think that 'ease-of-use' can be the last word in usability, and I think this is where free software excels - look at Firefox, for example. It has the instant gratification of any modern web-browser, yet offers almost emacs-level configurability.

I think that this is the happy medium that can only really come out of the free software world being, as it is, relatively immune to the sort of market forces that have forced the commercial sector to constantly chase the lowest common denominator. (who, let's face it, are bizarrely resistant to the idea that the incredibly complex piece of machinery in front of them might actually require some knowledge to use properly).