The largest difference between the GPLv2 and BSD licenses is:

The largest difference between the GPLv2 (GNU General Public License version 2) and BSD licenses is that BSD has no copyleft provision. Here’s a breakdown of the options you’ve mentioned and their accuracies:

1. Nothing, they are virtually identical: This is incorrect. The GPLv2 and BSD licenses differ significantly in their core principles, particularly around the requirements related to redistribution and modification.
2. Only BSD allows commercial use: This is not true. Both the GPLv2 and BSD licenses allow commercial use. The main difference is how the software can be distributed and whether derivative works need to also be open source (as required by GPLv2 due to its copyleft provision).
3. BSD has no copyleft provision: This is correct. BSD licenses are permissive and do not require redistributions of modified software to be under the same license. They allow modified versions to be distributed under different, even proprietary, terms.
4. GPLv2 requires assigning copyright to the FSF: This is not a requirement of the GPLv2 itself. Some projects, particularly those managed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), may require copyright assignment to the FSF, but this is not a requirement of the GPLv2 license per se.
5. GPLv2 is not approved by the OSI: This is incorrect. The GPLv2 is indeed approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). It fully meets the Open Source Definition.

The key distinction between these licenses lies in their approach to the distribution of modified software. GPLv2’s copyleft requires that the same freedoms granted by the original license must be preserved in distributed derivatives. BSD licenses, by contrast, do not have this requirement, allowing derivatives to be released under different, potentially proprietary, terms.