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Douglas Crockford's JSON license-griefing has done quite a lot of harm to open-source software: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford#.22Good.2C_no

by atdt 11y ago

Douglas Crockford's JSON license-griefing has done quite a lot of harm to open-source software: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford#.22Good.2C_not_Evil.22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford#.22Good.2C_n... * https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=63520#1403112940 https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=63520#1403112940 * http://apebox.org/wordpress/rants/456 http://apebox.org/wordpress/rants/456 * https://wiki.debian.org/qa.debian.org/jsonevil https://wiki.debian.org/qa.debian.org/jsonevil As a open-source software developer, I have wasted at least a day of my life on headaches resulting from this gag. The same is true of several of my immediate colleagues, and of a great many people in the open-source software community at large. Someone who acts with contempt and disrespect toward his peers in the industry does not deserve recognition or confidence. We cannot trust him to be a good steward of open standards. This casts a long shadow on his proposals.

archagon 11y ago
You could say the same thing about the GPL. It's not just "griefing" — it's using your software as a political wedge (however small) to try to change the world. I'd strongly consider using a similar license if I were ever to release something as important as JSMin. (Or maybe something more specifically itemized: "not for military use, not to be used as an aid to violence" etc.)
- azylman 11y ago
  The problem isn't pushing an agenda (which I think everyone agrees is fine), it's adding something subjective with no legal definition to your license. Since no one can say objectively "we do good", you're banking on not getting sued or having enough money and time to defend the lawsuit, which makes it unpalatable to many people. Additionally, it makes it non-free software, by definition, so a lot of distros can't include it or anything that depends on it.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
angersock 11y ago
In all of those cases, writing the libraries in question again with a different licenses would solve the problem. If you are going to use his code, you should respect his wishes. Otherwise, you're being both evil and lazy.
paulddraper 11y ago
Where there is humor, it will be lost.
scotty79 11y ago
He didn't waste your time. He just shown you how much of your time gets wasted (ridiculously) by lawyers and copyright. Too bad you didn't get the message and just got angry at quirky thing not the whole abysmal bureaucracy it clashed against.

by atdt 11y ago

archagon 11y ago

You could say the same thing about the GPL. It's not just "griefing" — it's using your software as a political wedge (however small) to try to change the world. I'd strongly consider using a similar license if I were ever to release something as important as JSMin. (Or maybe something more specifically itemized: "not for military use, not to be used as an aid to violence" etc.)

azylman 11y ago
The problem isn't pushing an agenda (which I think everyone agrees is fine), it's adding something subjective with no legal definition to your license. Since no one can say objectively "we do good", you're banking on not getting sued or having enough money and time to defend the lawsuit, which makes it unpalatable to many people. Additionally, it makes it non-free software, by definition, so a lot of distros can't include it or anything that depends on it.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

angersock 11y ago

In all of those cases, writing the libraries in question again with a different licenses would solve the problem. If you are going to use his code, you should respect his wishes. Otherwise, you're being both evil and lazy.

paulddraper 11y ago

Where there is humor, it will be lost.

scotty79 11y ago

He didn't waste your time. He just shown you how much of your time gets wasted (ridiculously) by lawyers and copyright. Too bad you didn't get the message and just got angry at quirky thing not the whole abysmal bureaucracy it clashed against.