[dahart]

You might have misunderstood what I said. It’s not up for debate whether RMS’s opinions or intent on the GPL have affected industry practice; that’s a fact of history. His statements on the GPL are authoritative in the sense that they may have prevented the courts from examining this question.

[memefrog]

"Authoritative" has a particular meaning. You might have intended to say "influential". You didn't. I can only reply based on what you said.

[dahart]

What meaning are you thinking of, exactly? I looked up the definition and it matches what I intended to say in every dictionary I checked (Merriam Webster, Oxford, Cambridge, Dictionary.com…) Some of the definitions seem more or less synonymous with “influential”, maybe you’re making some incorrect assumptions?