# Intellectual Property: Ideology vs Practicality

DevFeed: [Intellectual Property: Ideology vs Practicality](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/intellectual-property-ideology-vs-practicality-32848.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://reactos.org/blogs/intellectual-property-ideology-vs-practicality/>)

Published: 2013-12-14T00:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Front Page on ReactOS Website](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/front-page-on-reactos-website.md>)

Topics: [GNU General Public License](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/gpl.md>), [free software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/free-software.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>)

Tags: [apache](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/apache.md>), [cost](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cost.md>), [free](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/free.md>), [free-software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/free-software.md>), [intellectual-property](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/intellectual-property.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [os](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/os.md>), [react](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/react.md>), [reactos](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/reactos.md>), [reuse](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/reuse.md>), [source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/source.md>), [win32](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/win32.md>), [winapi](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/winapi.md>)

## AI overview

The article argues that the GPL's ideological goal of preserving users' rights to modify and extend software also creates obligations for developers who reuse GPL-licensed code. It contends that the resulting source-disclosure burden can make developing a separate solution or choosing a more permissive license such as Apache or BSD more practical.

## Source excerpt

The thing that people need to keep in mind when discussing the GPL is that it was created to achieve an ideological and political goal, namely that users of software should have the right to modify and extend the software as they see fit. To achieve this goal, the GPL seeks to ensure that the source code is always available and that reusing the source code in question comes without any restrictions save for what the GPL itself imposes in order to ensure this "