Ah... no, I don't think so: ... to develop a complete Unix-like operating system ...
And what is one part of a complete Unix-like system? C libraries! And who is the GNU project aimed at? Everyone! Is it too much of a collary to say that the GNU project aims to provide programmers with an abundance of C libraries?
Simply using 'political polarization' to characterize RMS is, at best, cowardly and at worst, ignorant.
Oh, come on! He even changed the word "copyright" to "copyleft"! The GPL pulls the finger at the capitalisation of software! How more left wing could you be?
You're right; the term "left wing" has a number of connotations that didn't apply in this case. But you must admit, if someone who doesn't understand the concept of free software or whose business model isn't compatible, the GPL would scare you off considering the use of that code base. That scare just isn't there with CPAN, which is one more reason people can easily get away with using it in the workplace.
