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Llama Group, the Belgian owner of Winamp, shared the ‘Legacy Player’ code on September 24, inviting developers to contribute to the software’s evolution. However, less than a month later, the repository was abruptly pulled, leaving many questions about the future of Winamp’s once-promising open-source journey.
Winamp’s source code was released under a newly coined ‘Winamp Collaborative License (WCL) Version 1.0.1,’ which immediately raised eyebrows. Unlike typical open-source licenses, the WCL imposed heavy restrictions on developers, reports Ars Technica.
For instance, it allowed contributions, but contributors were forbidden from distributing modified software versions in either source or binary form. Only the maintainers of the official repository had the right to distribute the software and any modifications. This effectively prevented any meaningful community-driven forks, stifling the potential for truly open innovations.
However, Winamp’s initial source code attracted significant attention despite these restrictions. Developers quickly began forking the code — over 2,600 forks as of the repository’s deletion — only to discover that the release was plagued with problematic inclusions.
The repository appeared to contain code elements from other projects under more restrictive or proprietary licenses, triggering alarms within the community. Among the most troubling discoveries were portions of SHOUTcast, the popular streaming software developed by Nullsoft, alongwith proprietary code packages from major tech companies like Intel and Microsoft.
However, Llama Group chose to delete the repository instead of addressing the issue. Despite the removal, GitHub’s inherent forking and copying mechanisms meant that portions of the problematic code remained available to developers who had already forked the repository before its deletion.
In the press release accompanying the source code launch, Llama Group outlined an ambitious plan to release two significant updates to Winamp per year. They also teased a new platform, Winamp for Creators, to empower artists and labels to manage music distribution and monetisation across various platforms.
However, the backlash surrounding the repository release and subsequent deletion raises questions about how prepared Winamp is for the demands of modern software development, particularly in the open-source arena.
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