4 ms·

Here's another opportunity to point out this unfortunate licensing bug in TypeScript's standard library: https://github.com/microsoft/tslib/issues/47 https://g

by evmar 7y ago

Here's another opportunity to point out this unfortunate licensing bug in TypeScript's standard library: https://github.com/microsoft/tslib/issues/47 https://github.com/microsoft/tslib/issues/47 (Disclaimer: I like TS, but I filed the above bug.)

pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Aside, can anyone explain this to me? >Please do not use "public domain", it's not a license and it makes it impossible to use such code in corporate context. // Seems pretty ridiculous, "can't use code unless it's encumbered by licensing restrictions"??
- pabs3 7y ago
  Check out the CC0 license and its justifications: https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc... https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
- Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
  CC0 is a licence. "Public domain" is a state. Some works have no copyright, typically because they're the product of a US Federal institution, or the copyright has expired. In American English this copyright-free state is also known as "public domain". (In British English it can mean something quite different.) To put something in the "public domain", you need to make a statement of such. In other words, a licence. You could just say "I put this in the public domain" but it may not provide the certainty that bigcorps like. CC0 is a way of saying this in bigcorp-friendly language. (The CC0 page at https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc... explains this well.) Alternatively, you can use WTFPL, which is a really great way of putting your works in the public domain while guaranteeing that bigcorps won't use them (see: statements on HN by Google people, passim).
  - pedrocx486 7y ago
    >Alternatively, you can use WTFPL, which is a really great way of putting your works in the public domain while guaranteeing that bigcorps won't use them I thought the point of WTFPL was that you didn't care who used your code for what.
    - Thorrez 7y ago
      Google will not use anything licensed under WTFPL. Other companies might be the same. https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-not-allowed https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-no...
  - M2Ys4U 7y ago
    >To put something in the "public domain", you need to make a statement of such. In other words, a licence. You could just say "I put this in the public domain" but it may not provide the certainty that bigcorps like. CC0 is a way of saying this in bigcorp-friendly language. It's more than that - it's impossible to place things in to the public domain in many juristictions - like the UK. (This is because copyright is property, and property must have an owner under the law of England and Wales [also Scots law I think, but I don't know]. Thus, a declaration that something is in the PD is of no effect.)
    - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
      You can abandon property to public ownership (land, cars, anything you leave in the street in England & Wales: it gets sold and proceeds go to the Exchequer or Police) so your justification at the end doesn't sway me. Moreover, Google have been allowed to assume ownership of intellectual property (content of books). The moral rights on those properties have been effectively cancelled.
      - M2Ys4U 7y ago
        >You can abandon property to public ownership (land, cars, anything you leave in the street in England & Wales: it gets sold and proceeds go to the Exchequer or Police) so your justification at the end doesn't sway me. Sure, bona vacantia is A Thing - but your comment spells it out. The copyright gets _sold_ by the state to whoever wants to buy it. That is not the same thing as public domain - the new owner can enforce their monopoly rights over the works which can screw over anybody depending on the work being "in the public domain".
- alphager 7y ago
  "Public Domain" is encumbered by Moral Rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights . While they play a very minor role in the US, they exist in Canada and most of the EU. Something like the MIT-license neatly gets rid of them.
  - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
    Cool, thanks. I'd argue that when I release something to the public domain that means that I give an open license such that the work can be used as if in the public domain until such time as it actually enters the public domain. But, yes, I can see how that's a risk companies might avoid until caselaw backs that up.

by evmar 7y ago

pbhjpbhj 7y ago

Aside, can anyone explain this to me? >Please do not use "public domain", it's not a license and it makes it impossible to use such code in corporate context. // Seems pretty ridiculous, "can't use code unless it's encumbered by licensing restrictions"??

pabs3 7y ago
Check out the CC0 license and its justifications: https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc... https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
CC0 is a licence. "Public domain" is a state. Some works have no copyright, typically because they're the product of a US Federal institution, or the copyright has expired. In American English this copyright-free state is also known as "public domain". (In British English it can mean something quite different.) To put something in the "public domain", you need to make a statement of such. In other words, a licence. You could just say "I put this in the public domain" but it may not provide the certainty that bigcorps like. CC0 is a way of saying this in bigcorp-friendly language. (The CC0 page at https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc... explains this well.) Alternatively, you can use WTFPL, which is a really great way of putting your works in the public domain while guaranteeing that bigcorps won't use them (see: statements on HN by Google people, passim).
- pedrocx486 7y ago
  >Alternatively, you can use WTFPL, which is a really great way of putting your works in the public domain while guaranteeing that bigcorps won't use them I thought the point of WTFPL was that you didn't care who used your code for what.
  - Thorrez 7y ago
    Google will not use anything licensed under WTFPL. Other companies might be the same. https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-not-allowed https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-no...
- M2Ys4U 7y ago
  >To put something in the "public domain", you need to make a statement of such. In other words, a licence. You could just say "I put this in the public domain" but it may not provide the certainty that bigcorps like. CC0 is a way of saying this in bigcorp-friendly language. It's more than that - it's impossible to place things in to the public domain in many juristictions - like the UK. (This is because copyright is property, and property must have an owner under the law of England and Wales [also Scots law I think, but I don't know]. Thus, a declaration that something is in the PD is of no effect.)
  - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
    You can abandon property to public ownership (land, cars, anything you leave in the street in England & Wales: it gets sold and proceeds go to the Exchequer or Police) so your justification at the end doesn't sway me. Moreover, Google have been allowed to assume ownership of intellectual property (content of books). The moral rights on those properties have been effectively cancelled.
    - M2Ys4U 7y ago
      >You can abandon property to public ownership (land, cars, anything you leave in the street in England & Wales: it gets sold and proceeds go to the Exchequer or Police) so your justification at the end doesn't sway me. Sure, bona vacantia is A Thing - but your comment spells it out. The copyright gets _sold_ by the state to whoever wants to buy it. That is not the same thing as public domain - the new owner can enforce their monopoly rights over the works which can screw over anybody depending on the work being "in the public domain".
alphager 7y ago
"Public Domain" is encumbered by Moral Rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights . While they play a very minor role in the US, they exist in Canada and most of the EU. Something like the MIT-license neatly gets rid of them.
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Cool, thanks. I'd argue that when I release something to the public domain that means that I give an open license such that the work can be used as if in the public domain until such time as it actually enters the public domain. But, yes, I can see how that's a risk companies might avoid until caselaw backs that up.