My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated] • Hacker News Board

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#241

Post by tomhow » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:28 AM UTC

ohdeargodno wrote: post #228

oaiey wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not know what is wrong with software engineers. This is theft (or whatever the lawyers says in the IP law) and now stating: Ooops we did not know, our bad, we keep it till we have found a replacement. Mistakes happen also in real life, but libraries is a common thing, like cars standing on a street. You do not accidently steal a car. Software Engineering is more than coding. Basic license management incl. librar…

[flagged]

> Playing with daddy's money

Personal attacks like this are not ok.

Sure, criticize their actions, but don't parlay that into this kind of personal swipe at the individuals and their families; that's when the line is crossed from valid critique of actions to nasty mob pile-on, and that's never ok here.

Not that it should matter but as far as I can tell, the Pickle founder/CEO grew up and studied in Korea, and we have no idea what their family circumstances were.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#242

Post by bpt3 » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:28 AM UTC

askl wrote: post #203

h4ck_th3_pl4n3t wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This incompetence excuse puts YC in a bad spotlight too, because it makes them look like they are funding people with exact zero software development experience.

Aren't VCs based on the principle of throwing money in as many directions as possible and hoping something turns out to be a unicorn?

That's what they do in practice, but not what they claim to do.

This is what happens when you have people without sufficient domain experience making decisions.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#243

Post by mezod » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:34 AM UTC

We are in a crisis of morals.

There has always been trashy people but since 2020 it feels like a lack of morals is rewarded more than ever.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#244

Post by tomhow » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:36 AM UTC

sebmellen wrote: post #119

tomhow wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems more likely that they didn't think anyone would notice. Maybe, but if that's what they thought (and I have no idea, I haven't spoken to them or anyone else about it), it's very foolish, because this kind of thing will always get noticed eventually, especially if the project becomes successful.

At this point it's a common strategy used by YC companies. Do you remember this? https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/30/y-combinator-is-being-crit...

YC tells founders that one of the fastest ways to kill your company is to base your product on code that's not legitimate to use (i.e., that you didn't write yourself or that is used in breach of its license). That's because it's one of the fastest ways to kill funding rounds, acquisitions and enterprise deals. Not everyone listens or understands.

It even asks (or at least it did the last time I checked) in the application form, if you wrote your code yourself, to raise the issue of IP ownership/licensing from the start.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#245

Post by exiguus » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:38 AM UTC

exiguus wrote: post #156

Does YC audit and evaluate the source code of the projects they fund?

Sorry, I don't want to be offensive. I'm just curious about how the YC quality check for founders works and what kind of experience and support they offer besides the obvious like money and publicity, particularly for open-source software projects.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#246

Post by JonChesterfield » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:38 AM UTC

"Fair enough. Since this was our first OSS project, we didn’t realize at first. We’ve now revised it. Thanks for your contribution."

We didn't notice that we copied your codebase, changed the name then pretended to have built it in four days?

Good grief.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#247

Post by danybittel » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:41 AM UTC

diggan wrote: post #240

seunosewa wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My feeling is that they are investing in founders who they find impressive who are working in AI. Not so much in the uniqueness of their ideas.

Isn't that a very outspoken objective of YC, to fund people, not ideas? Long time ago I caught up to what YC is doing, but even when I first joined HN back in like 2013 I think the whole "Fund people, not ideas" shtick was already explicitly what they were doing, unless I remember wrong.

Isn't "fund people" just hiring without the extra steps?

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#248

Post by jltsiren » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:41 AM UTC

ignoramous wrote: post #213

thiht wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're also supposed to do their due diligence before investing.

Paul Graham once wrote that startups are pretty hard to game unlike academia for top grades or a big company for promotions. In a twist of fate, YC itself seems to be gamed like those broken companies. So this is the third counterintuitive thing to remember about startups: starting a startup is where gaming the system stops working. Gaming the system may continue to work if you go to work for a big company. Depending…

When you institutionalize an ad hoc process, you turn it into a system that can be gamed. YC did that for startups, and it was already pretty obvious in 2014 when Paul Graham wrote that essay. Every other government was claiming to support startups and that their corner of the world would become the next Silicon Valley.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#249

Post by richardw » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:47 AM UTC

Surely you can’t be too surprised. The market is pushing for move-fast high polish, speed over substance. You can just do things, move fast and break things, etc. Velocity is the moat, indeed.

This is the market YC is breeding. When these guys float to the surface, what did you think would happen?

YC, you’re one of the greatest generators of value ever. Do better.

Re: My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

#250

Post by voxadam » Fri, Jul 04, 2025, 10:48 AM UTC

asadotzler wrote: post #219

gsky wrote: post #212

Good Artists Copy; Great Artists Steal I know need to check on my Open source projects :)

Stolen from Pablo Picasso.

“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”

    —Wayne Gretzky

      —Michael Scott