> I'd actually like someone to name an open source software project that we all know and love that hasn't benefited from immense institutional support.

Honest question, what about Debian? I know they had a year of FSF sponsorship back in like '94 but they seem to be heavily volunteer based with even the Project Leader keeping a day-job to pay the bills. I know they take in donations but they're generally who I point to as an example of what a Free/Open Source Software project can be.

edit: '93-->'94