> You can easily decompile it, and without copyright nobody can tell you want you are allowed to do with it. Easy to decompile, is not the same as easy to deob

> You can easily decompile it, and without copyright nobody can tell you want you are allowed to do with it. Easy to decompile, is not the same as easy to deobfuscate, understand and create deriviative work from. The entire point of GPL or any license is to tell what's allowed to do, that means you can share source code, and have legal means backing you up. > How would you profit from the work if you can't "sell" the work? You are the one who say that you can not sell the work. Of course you can, but it may not be relevant to the question of profits here since we are talking about source code, it may be incorporated in an existing system or service or even in a hardware product just to give some examples. > in how many other disciplines do you expect compensation for finite effort for infinite time? It's not infinite, it is restricted to a finite time. You do not get compensation unless you sell a product, selling that product it self takes work and investments. The amount you get paid, and if there are any reoccuring payments depends on the terms you are able to negotiate with who ever it is you sell to. It has nothing to do with copyright.