And if a license is not provided, then people generally can't even use the code as it would violate copyright, right? (with the exception of whatever you agreed

And if a license is not provided, then people generally can't even use the code as it would violate copyright, right? (with the exception of whatever you agreed to in your distributor's (e.g. Github) Terms of Use) So, it's not so much that a license prevents it. It's more like open source licenses are careful not to imply warranty from their mere existence.