Winamp deletes entire GitHub source code repo after a rocky few weeks

(arstechnica.com)

431 points dangle1 | 2 comments | 16 Oct 24 16:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.412s | source

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VonGuard ◴[16 Oct 24 17:07 UTC] No.41861368[source]▶

This is a cautionary tale for preservationists. My current preservation project is still not open because we are very slowly reviewing the code to make sure we don't accidentally include any IP when we open the source code. The real things that get you are similar to what happened here: codecs, graphics libraries, and a really big one to look out for is fonts. It'd be great if there was a scanner that could detect this stuff, but unfortunately, the scanning tools out there tend to go the other way like Black Duck: they detect open source code, not closed source.

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1. Arelius ◴[16 Oct 24 17:56 UTC] No.41861816[source]▶

>>41861368 #

I have the same problem..

I have been trying to preserve a game engine which has had an important following. But there has just been so many hands in the code, there is a lot of trepidation of the risk it could open the companies up too. Not sure how to progress from here.

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2. VonGuard ◴[16 Oct 24 17:59 UTC] No.41861848[source]▶

>>41861816 (TP) #

Email me at alex@themade.org and we can chat about options and methods. I've done this a bunch and we can usually figure out a way to meet the needs and keep risk at bay, but we will need to talk to the original rights holders, even if the thing was sold off 5 times to new companies. Usually, when I cold call the head of legal about this type of thing, they have absolutely no idea what IP I am talking about, even when their company owns it 100%, and this usually helps a lot to get them to open up. "We own what? Oh, and a museum wants to work with us? Cool!"

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