You are hitting shortcomings of copyright, rather than mistakes if the authors
The point is that it is in society's interest to just pay for some things that are widely benefited from. Weather data's just one example.
> if people want to be paid they need to make that need or desire explicitly clear and on the record
Nope!
> they don't get to subsequently complain
Also nope! You are not a person who gets to decide that for everybody.
A free license isn't a suicide pact or a ball gag. People can do things and then complain if it's not working out. Or not, as they prefer! But that too is beside the point. Which is that as a society we should figure out ways to support public goods like certain open-source software. Whether or not a given package maintainer asks.
Seeing as NASA and NOAA are paid for by taxes, it actually is. Now with the (decidely American) pedantics aside...
I agree with you in principle, but ultimately if people want to be paid they need to make that need or desire explicitly clear and on the record. Voluntary generosity can and will only go so far.
If someone releases their code under free-as-in-libre and/or -beer licensing, they don't get to subsequently complain if acts of voluntary generosity are "insufficient".