My open source project was relicensed by a YC company [license updated]

I'm having trouble mustering sympathy.

To paraphrase Voltaire, I mean, Tallentyre, I mean, Hall, I may not agree with what you publish under the GPL but I defend to the death your right to assert the GPL...

If our rights are contingent on taste then we have no rights at all.

Lacking sympathy for someone does not mean you condone them losing/lacking rights.

So when someone is actively losing their rights you feel the need to go out of your way to say you're unsympathetic. What did you /intend/ to convey with this? You support them, but at this dark moment, you felt the need to kick their shins also?

I initially downvoted you, but on second thought I’m actually a bit sympathetic to your argument. We see a similar pattern happening elsewhere. E.g. US citizens being round up by paramilitary forces and shuttled without due process to places which can almost be described as concentration camps. All for the stated crime of maybe entering the country improperly. The argument goes that they do not deserve anything else because they are ”illegals”.

Doing one bad thing does not necessarily justify other bad things done to you.

That said, I don’t like this cheating-enabling software either and think the world would be a better place without it.

If a criminal steals from another criminal, do you feel sorry for the first criminal?

If the software in question was explicitly intended for illegal purposes, would you still take the same position?

For me, moral lines exist. I don’t defend the right of people to profit from immoral acts.

There's no inconsistency in holding both of these positions:

- the original software is clearly unethical, and I bear no goodwill toward its developer

- I support the consistent enforcement of the GPL

In a case like this, I think it's natural to state both points. If we only focus on the second, we may be contributing to a groundswell of support for the original project/developer. That's distasteful when we only want to narrowly support their right to have their licensing terms respected.

If you paraphrase, it's still a derivative work under copyright law. /s