Writing an Operating System

How do I do it

>>50
A writes a program, and distributes it only in source form under the GPL.
B gets the source from A, compiles it, and deletes the source code.
A deletes the source code.
B and C have identical hardware and run the same operating system.
C wants a copy of the program, and doesn't care whether it's in source or binary form, as long as he can run it.
there is no legal way for C to obtain a copy of the program.

The absence of rules does not make everybody free. All it does is make power available to the strongest. The strongest inevitably uses that power to usurp freedom from the weak.
except that Microsoft/IBM/Sun/Torvalds/whoever can't legally break into your house and remove code from your hard drive, no matter how liberally it's licensed. with BSD-licensed code, they can't take away your right to use, modify, and distribute the code either.
however, if you don't have the source code, they can take away your right to distribute GPL-licensed binaries that you compiled from source. they can't do that with BSD-licensed binaries.

>>52
that only works if A has a binary for whatever platform C needs one for and is willing to give it to C.

>>53
BSD-licensed code is free for anyone to use, and nothing anyone does can make BSD-licensed code that you have non-free. a corporation can relicense the code, sure, but that doesn't affect your rights. you'd still have all the same rights you had before. they can't steal anything from you. they can't close the source code. it's already open. it's already freely available  to anyone who wants it. it can't be closed up because the rights granted by the license aren't conditional.
i never improve GPL'd code, because i don't want to license my code under a non-free license. if i'm going to give code away for free, i want to make damn sure that anyone can use it for any purpose.

the GPL is a huge step backwards toward the proprietary licenses that the corporations you hate so much use. claiming that adding several kilobytes of restrictions to the license and a misleading, irrelevant manifesto at the beginning makes the software somehow more free is insane. the only advantage of the GPL is that it allows corporations like Red Hat, IBM, and Sun to take advantage of open source development and not worry about their competitors using the same freely available code to create a better product.