Who is okay with talking to someone who is talking to others?

I've been talking to this guy and I thought we would do so good because we were both on the same page about not wanting to take things officially and just keep it casual and "talk." I remember I asked my ex to do this with me, but he was like you're either my gf or nothing. I didn't understand why back then. Now I do. He loved me that it wouldn't be okay with him if I talked to other guys. He said he wouldn't want to share me. Now I'm in that position. I love this guy I'm talking to and thought keeping it casual would be a good idea but not when you're in love w them. All this time, deep down I wanted something more. I wasn't okay with him talking to other girls even though I knew he can cause we weren't bf/gf. I wanted him to be consistent with me, but I didn't realize he had the choice of not to be since again, he wasn't my bf. We were both free to do whatever we wanted to do. If I hadn't loved him so much, all those hard times wouldn't have been as hard as they were. So now I'm in the position of whether letting him go because I can't have him as just a guy I'm talking, he's either my bf or nothing, kind of like my ex would say to me, or try to make it work with just "talking" because at the end of the day I will still keep in touch with the guy I love? How many people are okay with "just talking" to someone who you really like and wish were more knowing you're sharing them? and why?