Red Hat and the GPL

I differ with you regarding triage, however. GNU GPL infringement is rampant; ask the FSF's compliance officer, or the SFLC, sometime.

Red Hat Software, Inc., has indeed been, on balance, a laudable participant in the community.

However, there are virtues in keeping honest people honest, and not confining ones attention to wreaking revenge on the dishonest.

I'd like to see Red Hat remain the good example that they have been. Sadly, there are few levers available to influence corporations, particularly publicly-traded ones, to remain on their best behavior.

Finally, I think you are forgetting that, by all accounts (those we've seen in comments here on LWN), Red Hat's own kernel engineers are unhappy with this decision. Their views, as capable hackers who willingly develop GPLed software, are deserving of consideration. While not dispositive, I'm inclined to pay them much more heed than those of a marketing manager.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair