Sounds like the guy that invented bicycle helmets. He didn’t want Nazis to feel safe letting their kids ride bikes to school either.
Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
31–40 of 229 posts
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#32Take a look at the original json.org license and all the problems that the "not for evil" clause they added to it had caused. Ultimately though, if you put a non free license on your libraries, somebody will cry foul, fork it, and evil will still happen.
Some background in https://gist.github.com/kemitchell/fdc179d60dc88f0c9b76e5d38...
Basically you end up with something not legally enforceable. And will someone actually doing evil care about your license?
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#33There are plenty of licences to achieve this that'll make your code unusable. CC-BY-NC allows you to ban commercial use. There is also the Hippocratic licence[2] which allows you to choose from a variety of "evil corporation" types, from fossil fuels, mineral exploration, the Taliban, companies that have more than 200% pay inequity, etc. Pretty much all of these licences will make your project unusable and no longer…
I think part of what they're trying to do is change the discussion or the "norm". For example, if every developer suddenly changed to that style of license, would you still deem it unusable?
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#34Take a look at the original json.org license and all the problems that the "not for evil" clause they added to it had caused. Ultimately though, if you put a non free license on your libraries, somebody will cry foul, fork it, and evil will still happen.
Some background in https://gist.github.com/kemitchell/fdc179d60dc88f0c9b76e5d38... Basically you end up with something not legally enforceable. And will someone actually doing evil care about your license?
They would if they could get sued. But it's unlikely, so they won't.
Best cure is to use GPL, any evil company would not be able to handle *having* to give back anything to project they used /s
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#35Just make it GPL, there is no chance evil company would tolerate the enforcement of giving back, let alone lawyers to make sure they comply.
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Presumably they want to keep the project liberally licensed modulo the "no evil" part. A source-available license would probably be too restrictive for that purpose unless it is somehow made compatible with open/free licenses. But I am not a lawyer, so I have no fucking idea what I'm talking about.
They could use the json.org license: https://www.tldrlegal.com/license/the-json-license It's literally the MIT license with an added clause of only using the software for good, not evil. Obviously, corporate attorneys will advise not to use the software since good and evil aren't really well defined legal terms. It's also not open source using the osi definition.
It's also unenforceable, therefore useless.
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#37Just make it GPL, there is no chance evil company would tolerate the enforcement of giving back, let alone lawyers to make sure they comply.
Specifically GPL3 or AGPL. Having worked for Big Tech in the past, those two licences were verboten.
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why isn't there a "if I like you you can use it" I like you @WalterBright you can use any of my stuff even if you get acquired
Umm, there is. Basically, thats the default in most of the world. My recomendation if that is what you want to do, is to put a note in the readme and in LICENSE.txt that says "this project is copyright by me. If you want to use i, reach out to me and if I like you, I will give you a license". Then if you like someone, give them a written statement that you like them, and grant them permission to use your project(s),…
I sort of like this. I wonder if it is enforceable.
"For my friends everything, for my enemies the law" software license.
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#39Open source is a gift you’re giving. Companies take that gift and use it to provide a service for cheaper than it would otherwise be if they had to build it all themselves. You are already benefiting from open source - but it is a tiny benefit and subtle and very indirect and very diffuse. Licensing is thorny but it’s personal choice too.. would you use a project whose license is “use it for now unless or until I dec…
I think I probably would use a project that had a license that said "you can use this for now, but if I later decide I don't want evil people to use it, you'll have to maintain your own fork based on the last version before I made that decision."
Isn't that kind of always the bargain we're making? We can use someone's work as long as they're willing to let us, but if they change the license, we might not be able to continue using it.
Re: Stopping bad guys from using my open source project (feedback wanted)
#40Free software is about freedom. Restricting it from anyone means it's not free. There is no requirement that we must create free software but if it's called free I think it should always have the basic qualities of freedom; not only when it fits our purposes and our values.
> shift the default in open source from “it’s free for anyone to use” to “please don’t use this if you’re evil” Point the author makes is precisely that they don't want to do free software, and they'd like to convince you not to do free software
There are already so many ways (and reasons) not to do free or open source software. People who find them convincing are using them. People who don't generally are not.
It seems like the author of the post is just potentially having a change of mind from one side to the other, which barely even seems noteworthy.