Open source licensing and "free" software

I like coding for fun, most often using Python. If I end up with something that I think is worth sharing with the world, I make it freely available.

Sometimes when I'm coding, I'll look for other open-source libraries that can help me with my work. Maybe it's a task where I want to do some graphics programming, parse some XML, access a database. Whatever it is doesn't matter, I just don't want to write all my own code from scratch when there's something free and useful to do the job.

However, there are times when I see a library that has an open-source license like (for instance) the GPL, and it stops me in my tracks. I'm going to be making my own code free for the taking, but anyone that uses my code plus the associated library has to make their own code open and free as well. What is that about?

My code is a gift. If you want to make another free program based on it, that's fine. If you want to make a commercial program with my code in it, that's fine. That's what free means.

A license that tells other people how to use "free" code reminds me of those "gifts" you get from relatives that you can never throw away. "Don't you like that lamp I sent? It would look great in the living room! ... I'm looking forward to seeing it when I visit!"

If you have strings attached to your "free" code, I want no part of it.