Toward a "modern" Emacs

You missed the word "bankruptcy." If they go bankrupt, they may have no choice in the matter. This is precisely what happened to Sun.

> And there is a barrier to pulling your code: enforcing copyright when you don't own the copyright is significantly harder.

If I would agree with the upstream's enforcement action, then they can ask me to sign onto it at the time it actually happens. If I would not agree, then I see no reason to give them permission in advance. Regardless, they have the legal right to use the code. From my perspective, their personal preferences regarding how a purely hypothetical enforcement action would proceed are not my problem.

> Give me a break. Here's a related link.

Your link does not appear to be relevant to my argument, but instead merely states a preference to avoid the use of a specific term because it carries certain connotations, connotations which my argument does not depend on and which are entirely unrelated to this discussion. Since it is not relevant, I am ignoring it entirely.