[kelnos]

All GNU projects require assigning copyright to the FSF[0]. It feels a little absurd to call a GNU project "not open source".

But I would certainly trust the FSF not to change licensing terms (aside from moving to newer versions of the GPL/LGPL) to something unsavory, while the same can't be said of any old random project out there. I think that trust (or lack thereof) is the real issue. Ultimately, though, it's better to just not have to trust; I don't sign over my copyright to projects either, unless it's part of a job and the stuff that I write would otherwise be owned by my employer anyway.

[0] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.en.html

[CrLf]

The FSF requires copyright assignment so they can upgrade to newer GPL versions at will. I happen to disagree with that as well.