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Why you shouldn't use the Lesser GPL for your next library

   The GNU Project has two principal licenses to use for libraries. One is the GNU
   Lesser GPL; the other is the ordinary GNU GPL. The choice of license makes a big
   difference: using the Lesser GPL permits use of the library in proprietary
   programs; using the ordinary GPL for a library makes it available only for free
   programs.
     ____________________________________________________________________________

   See [47]"How to choose a license for your own work" for general recommendations
   about choosing a license for your work.
     ____________________________________________________________________________

   Which license is best for a given library is a matter of strategy, and it depends
   on the details of the situation. At present, most GNU libraries are covered by
   the Lesser GPL, and that means we are using only one of these two strategies,
   neglecting the other. So we are now seeking more libraries to release under the
   ordinary GPL.

   Proprietary software developers have the advantage of money; free software
   developers need to make advantages for each other. Using the ordinary GPL for a
   library gives free software developers an advantage over proprietary developers:
   a library that they can use, while proprietary developers cannot use it.

   Using the ordinary GPL is not advantageous for every library. There are reasons
   that can make it better to use the Lesser GPL in certain cases. The most common
   case is when a free library's features are readily available for proprietary
   software through other libraries. In that case, the library cannot give free
   software any particular advantage, so it is better to use the Lesser GPL for that
   library.

   This is why we used the Lesser GPL for the GNU C library. After all, there are
   plenty of other C libraries; using the GPL for ours would have driven proprietary
   software developers to use another--no problem for them, only for us.

   However, when a library provides a significant unique capability, like GNU
   Readline, that's a horse of a different color. The Readline library implements
   input editing and history for interactive programs, and that's a facility not
   generally available elsewhere. Releasing it under the GPL and limiting its use to
   free programs gives our community a real boost. At least one application program
   is free software today specifically because that was necessary for using
   Readline.

   If we amass a collection of powerful GPL-covered libraries that have no parallel
   available to proprietary software, they will provide a range of useful modules to
   serve as building blocks in new free programs. This will be a significant
   advantage for further free software development, and some projects will decide to
   make software free in order to use these libraries. University projects can
   easily be influenced; nowadays, as companies begin to consider making software
   free, even some commercial projects can be influenced in this way.

   Proprietary software developers, seeking to deny the free competition an
   important advantage, will try to convince authors not to contribute libraries to
   the GPL-covered collection. For example, they may appeal to the ego, promising
   "more users for this library" if we let them use the code in proprietary software
   products. Popularity is tempting, and it is easy for a library developer to
   rationalize the idea that boosting the popularity of that one library is what the
   community needs above all.

   But we should not listen to these temptations, because we can achieve much more
   if we stand together. We free software developers should support one another. By
   releasing libraries that are limited to free software only, we can help each
   other's free software packages outdo the proprietary counterparts. The whole free
   software movement will have more popularity, because free software as a whole
   will stack up better against the competition.
     ____________________________________________________________________________

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