Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

code.mendhak.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 585 posts

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#101

Post by jen20 »

bluGill wrote: post #53
vinceguidry wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Postman probably just redirects, with a business or institution it's easy to just have the Post Office direct all mail addressed to "Free Software Foundation" to the current address.

For a few months. The post office will do it for anyone for a few months, but then they stop forwarding mail. Maybe businesses get that treatment longer, but when people move they only get a few months.

Standard US Mail forwarding is 12 months and may be extended for a further 18 months.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#102

Post by sph »

gwd wrote: post #14

> Writing the address on the envelope was awkward, as I haven’t used a pen in several years; it took a few attempts and some wasted envelopes... Wow -- I mean, sure, I don't use a pen that often, but I'm sure I hand-write something at least once a month...

My hand writing got rusty and awkward until I read that writing something by hand is shown to strengthen one's memory and recollection. It definitely seems to be the case for me and has made me much more organised.

Now I journal on a paper notebook, take daily notes on a whiteboard and I'm rediscovering index cards for long term storage, but I wish real life had a search function.

If I had an automated scanning + OCR + convert to Org system, I would never use a text editor for notes ever again.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#103

Post by maxloh »

coldpie wrote: post #69
maxloh wrote: post #42

Perhaps the FSF got confused about which license the author was referring to, or perhaps they intentionally mailed back GPL v3 — this isn't the first time they haven't been generous. In the old days when they released GPL v3, Linus Torvalds considered it "not the same license at all". He felt betrayed because the FSF "try to sneak in these new (tivoization) rules and try to force everybody to upgrade". People could f…

> Perhaps the FSF got confused about which license the author was referring to When no version is specified in the request, returning the latest version seems like a reasonable thing to do.

IMO, the correct response would be "Hey we have version 1, 2, and 3 of this license, all of them have been attached. Please make sure which one you were talking about".

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#104

Post by dharmab »

mcgrath_sh wrote: post #91
gwd wrote: post #14

> Writing the address on the envelope was awkward, as I haven’t used a pen in several years; it took a few attempts and some wasted envelopes... Wow -- I mean, sure, I don't use a pen that often, but I'm sure I hand-write something at least once a month...

Genuinely curious, I don't write anything long by hand, but do you not jot down disposable information with frequency, or date food, or anything like that? I date food we put in the fridge/freezer. I jot down something like a phone number if I am redirected. I have to give my pet medication occasionally and I use a post-it to track so the household can know. Like I said, I'm not writing anything even as long as a car…

I use a text file in my phone for notes.

I don't have roommates, but if I did we'd probably use a whiteboard for tracking errands and schedules.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#105

Post by alabastervlog »

3np wrote: post #24
NoboruWataya wrote: post #3

Not sure if it's being exaggerated for comedic purposes but it is interesting to me how alien the act of sending a letter by post is to the author. Granted I don't send them very often but I wouldn't think much of it if I had to. But I guess younger people and particularly those in tech may genuinely never need a reason to send a letter (or, it seems, write an address by hand).

Sending physical mail is one thing. I no longer consider myself "digital native" after reading this: > Writing the address on the envelope was awkward, as I haven’t used a pen in several years; it took a few attempts and some wasted envelopes, printing the address would have taken less time

I grew up pre-smartphone (pre-Web, partially, even) and even through college probably half my total output for school was hand written (friggin' blue book exams, LOL)

Some time last year, when trying to write something by hand and finding it alien and awkward, it occurred to me that for probably something like 15 years, and maybe more, I've perhaps not written more than a hundred words (signatures aside) by hand per year.

I have kids, so nearly all those words are on the stupid forms they constantly make you re-fill-out from scratch for no apparent reason at doctor's offices. If not for that, it'd be even lower. Some years I bet I was under 50. I go months without writing more than two or three words, total.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#106

Post by thesuitonym »

bluGill wrote: post #53
vinceguidry wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Postman probably just redirects, with a business or institution it's easy to just have the Post Office direct all mail addressed to "Free Software Foundation" to the current address.

For a few months. The post office will do it for anyone for a few months, but then they stop forwarding mail. Maybe businesses get that treatment longer, but when people move they only get a few months.

Standard mail forwarding is one year, and you can extend that for an additional 18 months. I don't know of any reasonable person who would call that "a few months"

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#107

Post by [deleted] »

xaitv wrote: post #83
gwd wrote: post #14

> Writing the address on the envelope was awkward, as I haven’t used a pen in several years; it took a few attempts and some wasted envelopes... Wow -- I mean, sure, I don't use a pen that often, but I'm sure I hand-write something at least once a month...

Think the last time I used a pen is about 8-9 years ago when I had to sign something to buy my home. Notes and stuff I just write on my phone or computer and I don't see what else I'd use a pen for.

[deleted]

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#108

Post by mrob »

graemep wrote: post #63
HideousKojima wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Americans are just very obstinate about those things. It's not just obstinance, switching everything to metric in the US would likely cost billions (if not trillions) of dollars. And other countries that have made the switch have often ended up with weird Frankensystems of measurement, like the UK where they mix metric and imperial all the time (plus the weird UK-specific measurements they have like "stone", which i…

It is a weird mix in the UK, distances are measured in miles, and speed limits are set in miles per hour, but fuel is sold in litres, for example. People get very worked up about it too. People got very worked up about a government proposal to allow people to put imperial units on food in larger type than metric (at the moment it has to be metric larger - or at least the same size). Everything in engineering and scie…

Distances in the UK are measured in miles and yards (or fractions of a mile). Google Maps gets this wrong and uses miles and feet. I don't think many people in the UK have a good intuition for how far 500ft is.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#109

Post by tranceylc »

Symbiote wrote: post #62
rafaelm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because in our countries (I'm also from S.America) the reliability of the post office is questionable at best, so it wasn't something I ever really used.

In most/all of Europe, letter volumes are reducing but they're still used. Even where email is common, letters are usually possible. In your country, - how do you get a new bank card, when the current one expires? - how are you informed about a change like a price increase for electricity? - how do you pay for electricity? (Knowing how much to pay, when etc) What about an elderly person?

All of these examples are about receiving though.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#110

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF »

remram wrote: post #19
NoboruWataya wrote: post #3

Not sure if it's being exaggerated for comedic purposes but it is interesting to me how alien the act of sending a letter by post is to the author. Granted I don't send them very often but I wouldn't think much of it if I had to. But I guess younger people and particularly those in tech may genuinely never need a reason to send a letter (or, it seems, write an address by hand).

The paper size and foreign stamps make sense, but I must say the inability to use a pen surprised me a little more.

Yeah that's crazy. I use pens to doodle designs or write little recipes or Kanban cards or index cards for what's inside a box... The author maybe does all that by typewriter?
Post reply on HN