I find the Jefferson quote toward the end rather ironic. Jefferson and his compatriots were fond of explaining why anything was worth trading for freedom, yet the author is suggesting that the Mint founders should've passed on the guaranteed "freedom" the acquisition money provides for some trite devotion to slaying Goliath.
If you want change, make your own change. It's no one else's responsibility. Even if it were, the founders are now better positioned to execute on any idea they have in the future with few limitations. How shortsighted.
You're using the word freedom in very different way than Jefferson ever meant it. In Jefferson's world, the Mint founders are no more or less free now than before selling to Intuit.
Otherwise, I agree that it isn't for us to judge. The founders were certainly free to sell their company.
If you want change, make your own change. It's no one else's responsibility. Even if it were, the founders are now better positioned to execute on any idea they have in the future with few limitations. How shortsighted.