Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> People (me included) think that publishing and maintaining software is an implicit guarantee of (or attempt at) some level of proper behavior

Except there is no implicit guarantee.

For example the Apache 2.0 license outright says it, so there is no argument about "implicit guarantees"

https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License




On the other hand you cannot create and maintain a community purely by contract.


I would bet that 95% of the open source projects on GitHub have no community. Does that mean they are not open source to you?


I agree.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2025 batch! Applications are open till May 13

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: