Is there such a thing: an ideological vs a practical one? I understand the OP's concern as related to the freedom of software he writes. Where is here the split between ideology and practical?
The GNU system was originally designed mostly from an ideological standpoints. Stallman and others wanted to use a UNIX system , but they wanted access to the source code.
A lot of GNU was replicating work that had been done by other Unixes but the goal was to have it available as GPL.
Next to that: I would only call it ideological if it was for some higher, intangible value in a future yet to discover. But I find the purpose of the GPL from inception until now only pragmatic.
The OP's question by the way, reminds me of this discussion http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3802516 , in which some argue against the GPL as "unfair" and ruining their day because it prevents usage in walled gardens (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3803492).
Would it be more pragmatic to keep the discussion on HN going instead of developing evasive concepts?