This is why many of us feel it is important to support Free Software instead of Open Source Software. Freedom - and preserving a free development environment for General Purpose Computers - is a far more important goal.
> GPL basically ensures that most developers of commercial software have to stay away from it
That's not the GPL's fault, proven by the fact that there are commercial software companies that sell GPL software.
There are reasons to not use GPL, but you don't want to follow the community's rules, you don't get to steal their work. Nothing is free; either pay the price the community sets (follow the GPL), or negotiate another license from the authors.
> very large companies prefer the open source approach
Yes, they prefer being able to take code for free without any ethical obligation to give back, a very narcissistic attitude. This meme that the GPL is "bad" or "less-free" is just a cheap excuse to try to get free code.
> exclude them from any non-open use
They only have to open the code associated with someone else's GPL code they are using. Depending on what you're writing, this code can be isolated so you only need to open the source to that particular program. If you're linking to an LGPL library, it's even easier.
You cannot "sell" GPL software. You can provide it as a service (one time fee, the customer can reuse it without additional payments) or just charge service fees. But for most commercial software the development costs can be financed only if you have the traditional selling model, it would not exist otherwise.
> There are reasons to not use GPL, but you don't want to follow the community's rules, you don't get to steal their work. Nothing is free; either pay the price the community sets (follow the GPL), or negotiate another license from the authors.
No one talked about stealing. I very careful observe the license of any software I touch - this is exactly the reason GPL makes me sad. I can't touch it, I have to treat the software as if it not existed. With the software I can use, I often can enhance it on paid time and donate back, but there is just no way of doing so with GPL software.
> Yes, they prefer being able to take code for free without any ethical obligation to give back, a very narcissistic attitude. This meme that the GPL is "bad" or "less-free" is just a cheap excuse to try to get free code.
You got it exactly backwards. Developers at companies are very aware of the ethical obligation to give back and usually are able to do so - LGPL is mostly fine for this reason. But GPL requires them to open source something else too, and that is where the conflict arrives. The GPL license does not only involve the software it is on, but it also tries to affect others people software.
I think every developer has the freedom to choose any license she or he wants and the license should be observed. I have seen good software pass away, because the developer was not willing to share it at all, and there is good software which does not get used, because the license terms prevent it. So I can only hope every developer chooses the license carefully, and as discussed GPL basically excludes the software from commercial environments. If thats what the author wants, fine. But it needs to be considered.
For the uninitiated/"unbrainwashed", the difference between open source software and free-as-in-freedom software:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.h...
I use the free-as-in-freedom-as-defined-by by John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Isaiah Berlin and so many others. Free, that is freedom, that is liberty, is not the same thing anarchy and the complete lack of restrictions. freedom is not, "A liberty for everyone to do what he likes, to live as he pleases, and not to be tied by any laws". It is to be "under no restraint apart from standing rules to live by that are common to everyone". Share and share alike would be one such model, as is the freedom from interference by other people, and DRM and proprietary licenses is the model for restrictions.
To quote philosopher Isaiah Berlin: "'Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows'; the liberty of some must depend on the restraint of others."
For example, people are not free to create derivative works and not share them.
I'm not saying "free software" is an improper phrase, just there is more nuance than you imply.
That's a very narrow interpretation of what RMS had in mind. Free software movement and its basic license GPL has always been about users' freedom and community.
Also, you're conflating open source and free software here. GPL is a license conceived by the free software movement.
