I think it's foolish of Mr Tanenbaum to expect how Intel used Minix in their super-secret project. I mean, it's super-secret. Telling him "Congratulation, Minix is now the most widely used OS in every x86 pc, but we cannot tell you why and how" would have blown pretty much everything. Any average person would have done 2+2 and would have understood what was going on.
Beside this... I think it is important that this would not have happened if Minix was licensed under the GPL. Not this way, at least. Intel would have had to find another OS (possibly paying for it) or develop one ex-novo (again, paying for it). So it would have happened anyway, but at least it would have been much more expensive for Intel.
Beside this... I think it is important that this would not have happened if Minix was licensed under the GPL. Not this way, at least. Intel would have had to find another OS (possibly paying for it) or develop one ex-novo (again, paying for it). So it would have happened anyway, but at least it would have been much more expensive for Intel.