That's because it would be a health issue. If I wrote a book for fun, and said you could have a free copy, it wouldn't be my responsibility to make sure you enjoy it. The VLC team does an amazing job at making their software solid anyway, so it's not even a good metaphor.
If an organization volunteers to give free food to people, they can't just give them any crap, or stale food, etc, and shun it with "hey, it's free".