I'd take "freedom for a user" over "freedom for a company" any day because I
am not a company, and I'd wager that most people in this community are not
companies either.
Also the GPL doesn't force anyone to do anything. The distributor of GPL code
willfully accepts the GPL when they distribute it. The GPL grants the user
the right to distribute, which is not something the user would ordinarily
have. The GPL does not take anything away, although the rights it does grant
are conditional on downstream being granted the same rights. The only people
(and/or companies) that have issues with the GPL are those who like to take
but don't like to give. Hasn't it occurred to you that some of us actually
like giving back?
Claiming that you somehow own the right to a combined work you created with
others' code is somewhat like me taking a chapter out of someone's book,
write a chapter myself after it, and claim that this is somehow a book I
created. Copyright laws would forbid me from doing this, because part of this
work is not my creation. Ballyhooing about how the GPL "tells you what to do
with your work" is nonsensical because if you're using GPL code (willingly, I
again add) it's not completely your work. Part of it is someone else's, and
is bound by that author's license, which is GPL.
By the way, if you're trying to convince people you're not a troll, using
Steve Ballmer's tired old virus analogy isn't going to help.
