Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Would You Die To Respect a Software License?

Posted by timothy on from the visit-from-the-compliance-department dept.

Julie188 writes "Some 2,000 licenses cover the 230,000+ projects in Black Duck's open source knowledge base. While 10 licenses comprise 93% of the software, that leaves 1,980-odd licenses for the other 3% — and some of them have really crazy conditions. The Death and Repudiation License, for instance, requires the user to be dead."

1 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Back in the 80's... by Tapewolf · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I recall that a common graphics viewer those cool new GIF files (among many other formats) wrote that if you continued using their software after 30 days without paying then a demon would be visited by demons who would torment you.

    Graphics Workshop had something like this. In fact:

    If you want to see additional features in Graphic Workshop, register
    it. If we had an Arcturian mega-dollar for everyone who has said
    they'd most certainly register their copy if we'd add just one
    more thing to it, we could buy ourselves a universe and retire.

    Oh yes, should you fail to support this program and continue to
    use it, a leather winged demon of the night will tear itself,
    shrieking blood and fury, from the endless caverns of the nether
    world, hurl itself into the darkness with a thirst for blood on
    its slavering fangs and search the very threads of time for the
    throbbing of your heartbeat. Just thought you'd want to know
    that.

    ...If I remember correctly, you could get a discount if you sent the author a photocopy of the cover of his novel.