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

Good job, team. Companies are sure to open source their legacy proprietary applications now after that warm reception.

They didn't open source anything though. They shared some code under some restrictive license.

The "chilling" effect is still the same.

I hope companies will also recognize that by actually open sourcing their stuff and be more careful, things will go better.

Of course the childish comments that seem to have been posted on github were probably not great, I think people should be respectful, so maybe the additional lesson here is that github, by trying hard to become a social network and not focusing on being a code host and issue tracker, succeeded in being a social network, with the whole package, attracting this kind of shitty behavior, and that's one more reason to avoid it now. You wouldn't upload your code on a social network, would you?

If you don't want cooperation or forks, a zip anywhere will do.

In addition, they leaked proprietary code they didn't have rights to publish in the first place.

Right, and what we're "chilling" is using software in a way not consistent with its license.

That's good, IMO. Don't steal IP and you don't have to worry about getting caught for stealing IP. FYI: simply hiding the code doesn't fix the issue - disgruntled employees and whistleblowers do exist.

Given the wide variety of views expressed in this HN discussion, it's clear there isn't consensus on how this is being interpreted, so I think you're wrong in claiming that there is only one type of behaviour being discouraged.

That said, I'm just as a casual observer lying in bed with the flu, I probably should just shut up until I know more the situation.