[Golden Eagle]

That might matter if it had stayed in Finland, and had US companies like IBM and even our own ignorant government not invested billions (yes with a "b") in its development. But since they did, and still do, that technology shouldn't be legally given away for free, especially to regimes that offer us nothing in return, or even worse may use it against us one day militarily

[FLAMING DEATH]

Yeah, instead, they should buy copies of Windows and use THAT against us militarily.

[Redcloak]

Assuming that you're right about total American investment in Linux and Linux apps (Why not toss them in too?), so what? All of that development was done under the GPL. Those who did the work knew the terms of their involvement. And if you were to actually read the GPL, you'd see that working on a GPL'd project does not give you ownership of that project or an exclusive right to use the product. You own a copyright to your additions; but, by using GPL'd code as a basis for your work, you agree to license that work to anyone who wants it. If you can't abide by that, then don't use GPL'd code in your project.

The American investment you mention was not for purely original code; it was built upon someone else's work. The Americans did not need to pay for that original work any more than the Chinese, or you, would have to pay for their subsequent additions. Those are the terms of the GPL. It's that whole "Free as in speech, not as in beer" thing; a mighty subversive concept if you're a RedFlag kinda guy.