Is it USA courts only? If it is, it's the same as nothing for people like me.

Also, GPL is about source code, not ideas. Source code is not that relevant.

The WRT54g led to a variety of user-serviceable firmware worldwide, including dd-wrt and openwrt. It gave, and continues to give, new life to otherwise wifi devices that shipped with a abandoned propeietary software. It was a revolution in wifi router firmware, and still is.

It was created because Linksys shipped GPL code to customers but didn't provide the source.

Sure. I understand.

My work is with DSLs: domain specific languages. The work is in the idea realm (most of the time is spent there), not the source code implementation, which is often trivial once the language is developed.

The gratification also is different. Seeing others use the language is the best one can hope to achieve nowadays. Maybe publish a book about it, but that sounds more trouble than it is worth (judging by how books on patterns, a similar realm, are often misquoted and misused).

That's why all this talk about licenses sounds like nonsense.

Ideas are not copyrightable, so you can't prevent anyone from using them without keeping them secret, and even then folks might come up with the same idea independently.

They are patentable though. Feels like you should have mentioned it.

I could have kept it a secret and made a book about it, tying my name to it forever.

However, I want my domain specific languages to run free. People not getting in my nerves about them anymore would be enough compensation.

True, although software patents aren't supposed to be a thing in some places, so your success in protecting software ideas might be location dependent, or time dependent as case law changes. Thats probably why I forgot about them.