derivative works matter less than you think.

Given the wealth of text this chapter offers regarding derivative works,
this section really is necessary to give context on this point and
assure that the reader is not unduly swayed to believe that the
derivative work discussion is a central tenant of understanding
copyleft.

Long term, it may make sense to move the entire chapter on derivative
works to a different part of the tutorial.  Historically, it was placed
here because when teaching courses on the subject based on this text, I
found as an instructor that questions about derivative works became so
rampant from students during discussions of GPLv2§2 / GPLv3§5 that
derivative works discussion ahead of time was the only way to quell the
onslaught of ultimately off-topic questions.

Thus, the placement of the derivative works section in this location may
in fact be merely an historical artifact that this text was written
originally to accompany an in-course presentation.  While I'd still
recommend organizing a classroom presentation of these topics in that
order, I no longer believe the written materials must follow suit.

gpl-lgpl.tex

@@ -1450,6 +1450,38 @@ detailed software derivative work analysis. Most often, cases involve
 clearer basis for decision, including frequent bad faith on the part of
 the defendant or over-aggressiveness on the part of the plaintiff.  
 
+\section{How Much Do Derivative Works Matter?}
+
+It is certainly true that GPL intends for any work that is determined a
+``derivative work'' under copyright law must be licensed as a whole under
+GPL\@, as will be discussed in the following chapter.  However, as we finish
+up our discussion derivative works, we must note that preparation of a
+derivative work is by far not the only way to create a new work covered by
+GPL\@.
+
+In fact, while derivative work preparation is perhaps the most exciting area
+of legal issues to consider, the more mundane ways to create a new work
+covered by GPL are much more common.  For example, copyright statutes
+generally require permission from the copyright holder to grant explicit
+permission to modify a work in any manner.  As discussed in the next chapter,
+the GPL {\em does} grants such permission, but requires the modify work must
+also be licensed under the terms of the GPL (and only GPL:
+see\S~\label{GPLv2s6} in this tutorial).  Determining whether software was
+modified is a substantially easier analysis than the derivative work
+discussions and considerations in this chapter.
+
+The question of derivative works, when and how they are made, is undoubtedly
+an essential discussion in the interpretation and consideration of copyleft.
+That is why this chapter was included in this tutorial.  However, as we
+return from this digression and resume discussion of the detailed text of the
+GPLv2, we must gain a sense of perspective: most GPL questions center around
+questions of modification and distribution, not preparation of derivative
+works.  Derivative work preparation is ultimately a small subset of the types
+of modified versions of the software a developer might create, thus, while an
+excessive focus on derivative works indulges us in the more exciting areas of
+copyleft, we must keep a sense of perspective regarding their relative
+importance.
+
 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 
 \chapter{Modified Source and Binary Distribution}