Hello, Let me make a few things clear. I am a newbie. I'm not a troll but a seriously curious guy wanting to know. I searched google but could not find any clear explanation. Please point me in the right direction if this has been discussed before. Please spare me the flames and do not reply if you find this offensive... I'm just trying to know. :) I am a great fan of Theo and RMS. I've been reading a lot on the BSD license and GPL license lately.
I have a few questions(no, not which license is better.:): 1. BSD license is completely free. No one needs to give back changes forcibly(the GPL way), hence this is completely free. If what i hear is correct, there are companies(Microsoft) which take BSD code (network stack i hear) and made it proprietary by not giving back anything. What i don't understand is are we not loosing anything in this case?? I can understand that there are many more companies which have used the code(Apple) and given back but there are also opposite ends... 2. I know many of you consider RMS a backstabber on the goals of "freedom". What i don't understand is what is wrong in porting free software to non-free platforms? Shouldn't people caged on non-free platforms know about the power of free software?? When there is no one to explain to them what free software is, does'nt this porting get atleast a percent of them interested in a successful and superior free software product(like firefox)? Thank you for taking the time to read this.