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Beware of "Backspaceware"

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-hates-it-so-much dept.

SubLevel writes "Since conception in 2004, Paint.NET has been generously been offering the software community the taste of successful freeware, by allowing anyone to download and decipher the entire working of their extremely popular photo editing program. As posted in the Official Paint.NET blog by Rick Brewster, "Backspaceware" as he has so coined has become a tremendous issue. "Paint.NET's license is very generous, and I even release the source code. All free of charge. Unfortunately it gets taken advantage of every once in awhile by scum who are trying to profit from the work of others. I like to call this backspaceware*. They download the source code for something, load it up in to Visual Studio (or whatever), hit the backspace key over the software's name and credits, type in a new name and author, and re-release it. They send it to all the download mirror sites, and don't always do a good job covering up their tracks.""

12 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. Proofreading by kmac06 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I been have been good at proofreading.

  2. Obfuscated C by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is a good reason to implement obfuscated C for things like the program name and author.

    --
    I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
  3. Re:Operation as normal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    WRONG! The MARKET solves ALL problems! Communist!

  4. CentOS = backspaceware? by MeanMF · · Score: 4, Funny

    Better not give that prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor any ideas. They might try to put CentOS out of business.

  5. What's the problem? by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 2, Funny

    He's entitled to statutory damages of something like $150,000 per copy. He hit the jackpot.

  6. Backspaced comments by Xocet_00 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Tell me about it. I post some really insightful comment in slashdot and somescum cut and paste it and post it as their own insight in other fora and blogs.

    Certified that this comment is not a cut and paste of another poster's comment. Well, as far as I know. And I don't know much.

  7. Re:Closing the source? by blowdart · · Score: 1, Funny

    he's fighting against a culture where most people have no idea what OSS is, and where all the social mechanisms the Linux/BSD community has developed don't exist

    Why yes, because linux and bsd code have never been ripped off. That's never happened. No. Not at all. What utter nonsense. Nor does the author talk about taking the software closed source; if you read the article he talks about distributing part of the project as a binary, the bits that people can easily use to just change the copyright messages, the installer and other small bits. The removal of the current source is a stopgap until he decides which option to take.

    But hey, lets not let facts get in the way of a good Microsoft bash. Where you went wrong is you said Windows instead of Windoze, and forgot to use Micro$oft. Then you may have been marked insightful.

  8. Re:Let me introduce you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    What, so stallman can take the credit and get the benefits? In Stallmanland, Backspace brings up online help because that's the most intuitive thing it can do - everyone knows C-h should bring up help. Your keyboard is broken and you should throw it way and get a different one. The software in the article should have been called Deleteware or better still delete-backward-charware to avoid any ambiguity. Get your terms straight next time.
  9. Re:this happened to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I eventually got him to take it down by sending a cease and desist notice. (Thanks for the template RIAA)
    "This is RIAA. It has come to our notion that you used our copyrighted cease and desist notice text without our permission..."
  10. Re:Source code defined by QuantumFTL · · Score: 2, Funny

    "A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent."
    If that's the case, why hasn't the EFF sued Larry Wall and his followers long ago?
  11. Re:Let me introduce you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Regardless of the lisence, people still breach it by making backspacewar eof it.

    Any license? Oh, but I think I have the solution. Have you seen my new "Greg's Public License"? I think it's quite innovative.

  12. Re:Not all GPL violations get handled as smoothly by garbletext · · Score: 2, Funny

    I like how you backed your premise with anecdotal evidence to the contrary there.