It is exactly the FSF's reasoning for LGPL -- to stop a non-free alternative from becoming a standard: Using the ordinary GPL is not advantageous for every lib

It is exactly the FSF's reasoning for LGPL -- to stop a non-free alternative from becoming a standard: 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 alternative 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. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html