I'd like to point out that I don't think that there is anything fundamentally superior in the GPL as compared to the BSD license, for example. But the GPL is what I want to program with, because unlike the BSD license it guarantees that anybody who works on the project in the future will also contribute their changes back to the community.
Linus TorvaldsWhen I do programming in my free time and for my own enjoyment, I really want to have a kind of protection: knowing that when I improve a program those improvements will continue to be available to me and others in future versions of the program.
Linus TorvaldsWith software, you really can replicate and do a lot of very real and active development in parallel, and actually try it out and see what works.
Linus TorvaldsTheory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time.
Linus Torvalds