I'm mixed about this..
What good are rules (such as a license) when you don't enforce them? I think that the statement about companies abusing the GPL isn't all that far off to be honest. And I can also understand why they would prefer this topic to be addressed at a Linux conference. After all the GPL and Linux are pretty much interwoven so to speak. So with that in mind I don't think the request is as ridiculous as Linus makes it sound.
Especially if you look at the way the US legal system works: when a precedence is set then that can be used for future cases.
Of course I do agree with the statement that lawsuits do more harm than good. True. But what good are rules if you don't plan to follow up on them?
Either way, when it comes to the GPL then I think Stallman is a much better suited candidate to decide if this topic should be addressed or not (instead of Kuhn).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
