Thanks for being more polite than the other anonymous coward in this thread, I rarely see a polite response from a *BSD'er who doesn't understand my POV...

If GPL advocates just wanted payment for software, they would make it closed-source, and invalidate their entire philosophy. What they really want is the ability to share the code without losing their other freedoms. Anyone else can also sell the product, or distribute it free. Money doesn't have to be an issue, but one way people can show their support is by buying a product. Again, it's a different philosophy, and it doesn't always apply to all software. I just don't like to see people getting their operating systems stolen.

Actually, though, you have a good point there. I'd be happier if Microsoft *could* steal *BSD, because then maybe that would mean that they could write/sell a better OS for once. It's just that the OS is such a commodity, and such a battleground these days, that I don't see why anyone should help those who only help themselves.

I also don't see why a proprietary software company who also contributes back code shouldn't just use the GPL. :) If you're not afraid of sharing code, why not make it official? Then people might *respect* you (and your code) enough to buy your product. Also, there would be no question of fairness in OSes. Does the webserver give more priority to people using IE? Submit a patch to make it even, and use the new version... :)