[sdegutis]

I interpreted what he and I both said as a statement of the pointlessness of this ongoing debate that everyone knows has no end. That seems like an on-topic statement to make on HN, especially if it deters others from jumping on that perpetual bandwagon.

[Touche]

It's not really a debate, the FSF, which was founded by Richard Stallman considers BSD (and a lot of other permissive licenses) to be Free Software. Only people who are even more of a zealot than Richard Stallman disagree.

[nzp]

My feeling is that they're not more zealous (to be honest, I don't think there's anything wrong with being zealous when you're fighting for a good cause) but rather dilettantes who don't actually understand what FSF is about, or what the various licenses precisely mean. They just find the general aesthetics and rhetoric of FSF and RMS appealing and try to emulate cargo-cult style.