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I'll ask a related question: Why license it under the GPL? What does Google gain? (and what do you gain)

You gain the knowledge that a device running Fuchsia is running code that's publicly available.

Do you though? Google, as the liscenser is free to keep portions of fuschia under lock and key, so that's not really the case.

You're really not convincing me that Google's intentions are good. Not licensing under GPL is a clear signal that Google is prioritizing hardware partners' needs over their users. Just like Android.

I'm not trying to, I just don't think that using GPL would make them any nobler, except in the eyes of GPL-fanatics.

No, you actually don't. You gain knowledge that some of the code is maybe publicly available, just like linux. The rest, however, is often still kept secret, legally or not, and has been since time immemorial.

You don't have to take my word for it though, go ask bradley kuhn if he thinks that vendors have a tendency to comply with the GPL for the kernel :)

Consider what happens if you're wrong. What happens if the GPL actually is the reason why Linux has such wide open-source hardware support? Then say goodbye to hacking on Fuschia on your own hardware...

I'm not willing to take that risk.

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