I am happily using GNU programs and, later, Linux both proffesionally and privately for ten or so years now,

I have been using GNU tools since about 1990 in the same way. I was an early subscriber to the paper version of the FSF's newsletter (with a certain Mr. Stallman portrayed riding a "righteous GNU", if I remember rightly - I'll have to look at my old comics later).

That all stops today, as everything relating to the GPL comes off all my personal machines as soon as I get home tonight. I am this afternoon going to withdraw the push I have been making at work to use Debian in a major development for the company I am currently working for.

How I am going to reconcile this with my ownership & usage of the empeg machine, I don't know - but I do know that this exchange has finally gelled my so far ambiguous attitude to GPL source and the GPL itself which has persisted in me for some 10 years now.

All of my own work released so far has been public domain, and I have seen at least two places where the code (especially so in the case of a device driver) has simply been lifted, comments and all, and dropped under a GPL without acknowledgement or contact from the perpetrator. I have been tolerant of this so far, as I considered that it benefits everyone in spite of me having a horse and cart trampled through my rights as a developer.

Public pillory of offenders certainly has it's place - in the market square, somewhere around 1540 - 1680 AD. Not on this BBS.