A reminder that kbin is still violating the zlib license of Postmill (the software that powers Raddle) : fediverse

[-] ernest@kbin.social 64 points 1 year ago

Since then, over 230 pull requests have been accepted. I had a branch where I was working on this, but a lot of code has changed in the meantime - among other things, ex the markdown implementation has been rewritten and, in fact, some of it is now outdated. Many files will still change and be rewritten before the release.

Before the first release, it will be done properly, and I will probably seek help and consultation from the right people https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/pulls/937. Currently, in the project's readme, I've clearly indicated that kbin is inspired by Postmill. Unfortunately, recently I've been overwhelmed by some personal matters, which caused me to neglect certain things. Now I'm doing everything to bring kbin to the appropriate state.

[-] Bendersnose 54 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"Inspired" is not an honest term. You're using someone else's code, so abide by the license they use, or remove their code from your project until you're ready to follow the license. You started lifting Postmill's code several years ago now and have had sooo much time to set things right but keep dragging your feet.

This isn't a school project, you're gaining financially from someone else's hard work without abiding by their (incredibly permissive) FOSS license and opening yourself up to serious legal action.

[-] ernest@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago

As I said, the markdown implementation that received the main thing has been rewritten by contributors. I need to consult on how it should look in such a case. Now the indicated similarities are between these files (these files will also be changed soon, before release):

https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/src/branch/develop/src/Repository/Criteria.php
https://gitlab.com/postmill/Postmill/-/blob/1e98b99bc4a20b396f2fa4089bdb1a308b7e18fd/src/SubmissionFinder/Criteria.php
https://gitlab.com/postmill/Postmill/-/blob/a9704316c1c78f15ca12c2dc5ad477f4ac9f530e/src/Entity/Submission.php#L21-57

[-] Bendersnose 31 points 1 year ago

May I ask why you haven't added the copyright notice to make kbin compliant while your volunteers are in the process of eliminating all of Postmill's code from the code base?

[-] ernest@kbin.social 18 points 1 year ago

I think several factors contributed to this. First, I prepared the licensing tag, but when the time came to merge the branch - that code simply no longer existed. As you can see, the remaining files are what I call inspiration - it's not copied code but more of an overall concept, quite common in these types of applications (however, I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a tag). Another factor is that sometimes you have to choose what to focus on first - eliminate and remove thousands of spambots, fix activitypub communication after updates from other software so as not to crash your server and others, secure the instance from sensitive content, deal with all the formalities related to the legal situation, working on moteration tools, handle pull requests from people who dedicate their private time to it and many more. Additional, I still need to make sure I can pay my own bills, and there's personal life.

And yes, two months is a long time, but for me, it was just a flash this time. A swift reality check occurred because the first release was supposed to come out over a month ago. I'm doing this the best I can, and without the help of contributors, none of this would have been possible. Due to the situation, I have to prioritize certain tasks. This is still marked as high priority, but it's waiting its turn. Nevertheless, I have the opportunity, I decided to seek external help to do it the right way before releasing the first version. I realized that it only seems like a simple task on the surface. I want close the matter once and for all. All of this also pertains to the licensing tags of Pixelfed, btw.

[-] Bendersnose 16 points 1 year ago

Gosh, how long did it take you to type that long reply explaining you're too busy to copy a license file over to kbin? It takes less than a minute to do. Copy the file. Commit. That's it.

[-] shnurr@fludiblu.xyz 26 points 1 year ago

People sitting on their ass telling others what they should do because "it only takes a minute" is such a stereotype in FOSS that I didn't think I would see a real one in the wild. Wow.

[-] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah while I can understand why OP would be grumpy, their replies are coming off pretty poorly

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Great job providing cover for the man's plagiarism. Brilliant.

When I get caught stealing from the cookie jar and lie about making amends, I know I could really use someone like you in my corner, explaining to everyone how brave and courageous I actually am for taking the lady's cookies and laughing in her face when she asks me to acknowledge she baked them. After all, writing that thank you note would get in the way of my super important work. I just have too much to do to waste time acknowledging people's labor while I stuff their cookies in my mouth.

[-] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.one 1 points 1 year ago

sitting on their ass

What action do you think OP should be taking? Legal action? I don't see how criticizing OP for "sitting on their ass" is really a fair criticism.

[-] Eggyhead@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

OP should have been standing when telling others what to do. It takes only a second, and it's better for their figure. Stand up, commit. That's it.

[-] ernest@kbin.social 23 points 1 year ago

It took me from 4 to 6 minutes, I can't determine exactly. I think this is about more than just copying and committing a file - one needs to label specific files or sections of the code. I'm not sure how exactly this should look, so I'm waiting for a consultation.

[-] vintprox@geddit.social 7 points 1 year ago

Sending a tinsy-winsy appreciation to how you handle this dialog. Smooth. 🎩

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah it's really impressive how he's mastered obfuscation and how his sycophants line up to kiss his feet. So smooth.

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago

Where does the zlib license say you need to label specific files or sections of the code? Here, I'll make it easy for you - Please point to the part that says this..

Copyright (c) 2016-2017 Emma 

This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
arising from the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
freely, subject to the following restrictions:

1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not
   claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software
   in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be
   appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
   misrepresented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.

[-] gerryflap@feddit.nl 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You realize this is one human being managing this whole situation without getting paid? Being nice enough to share a cool, if imperfect, piece of software for all to use. Show some respect, damn. Kbin has exploded in the the past months, leading to a lot of exposure and thus also suddenly an onslaught of things to fix. License errors definitely aren't great, but you can't fix everything at once.

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I will not "show respect" to the man willfully copying someone else's hard work for years and refusing to commit the 50 seconds of time it would take to credit her for it. He's had every opportunity to make this right and instead is continuing to obfuscate and drag his feet to avoid abiding by the incredibly straight-forward terms of the license.

[-] whiskers@lemmings.world 9 points 1 year ago

This is a fair ask imo if the borrowed code is used currently.

[-] ernest@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

Most of the indicated code is no longer part of kbin (unlike Pixelfed's code, to be fair). You can see the similarities in the links provided above. However, I need to thoroughly analyze everything once again to make sure nothing slipped past me and there isn't more of it. There might be a tool that could facilitate this. In any case, it's not my intention to hide the original source, even if major changes have been made. I'd gladly leave information about what the code was based on. I have no problem with that, the only enemy is time.

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the less than 1 minute it would take you to abide by the license as you promised 2 months ago is a real killer. So many more important things that take priority over giving her credit after 3 years of pilfering her hard work.

[-] ernest@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

At the end of the day, I wanted to thank you for that reminder. Sometimes I really need it. For now, these two PRs will have to suffice. I'm sure I modeled them after Postmill. I can promise I'll get back to this and do it right.

Thank you for that, Adam.
https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/pulls/1005
https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/pulls/1006

[-] sabreW4K3@lemmy.tf 43 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The fact that Ernest commented on this two months ago and then didn't fix the issue is saddening. I understand that everyone is busy, but crediting people isn't a big ask.

[-] Bendersnose 35 points 1 year ago

It really is ridiculous. It's such a small ask to give credit where it's due.

[-] DmMacniel@feddit.de 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

perhaps they need a reminder or something. Violating Licenses is really bad.

[-] lemann@lemmy.one 40 points 1 year ago

Life happens IMO.

Any reason why the people repeatedly raising the issue don't just open a PR in Codeberg adding the attribution they deem "correct"? This isn't a court house, the source control tool is literally an open forum...

Am I missing something here?

[-] Bendersnose 26 points 1 year ago

You're shifting the blame. Ernest promised a quick resolution 2 months ago and didn't follow through. I don't use kbin, I only use Postmill, so expecting me to clean up his mess isn't a reasonable ask.

It would take him less time to copy/paste the license file than it took him to write his latest feet-dragging comment here.

[-] lemann@lemmy.one 23 points 1 year ago

You're shifting the blame

I don't see how I am...

Ernest promised a quick resolution 2 months ago and didn't follow through.

I understand that, and it's unfortunate that he's been unable to do so thus far.

That fact does not affect the validity of the original question IMO, especially when the complaint is originating from multiple people who each have equal access to implement the desired change.

I don't use kbin, I only use Postmill, so expecting me to clean up his mess isn't a reasonable ask

I'm not expecting a specific individual to "clean up his mess" really. There are multiple people being vocal about this issue besides yourself, from my perspective any one of these individuals can do this and move on.

It would take him less time to copy/paste the license file than it took him to write his latest feet-dragging comment here

While this is true, I think posts like these are also wasting his time needing to crowd control a post discussing how he should be using his personal time. These kind of interactions are really demotivating and draining for any developer or individual

Even if he went and did the change himself as a result of this post, people would still "why did it take you this long" and the like IMO

[-] priapus@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago

This is the responsibility of the person who wrote the code. This person is ernest. Life happens, but this is not a significant amount of work to be done and ernest said it would be done "today" 2 months ago.

[-] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 27 points 1 year ago

I've raised this in the matrix chat and have flagged this again to Ernest. I know initially about 2 months ago when the exodus happened that he was scrambling around trying to keep the server running as everyone joined.

Over the last few weeks he's be busy with a flood of PRs with either fixes, new features or support for the upcoming API integration.

I had no idea this ticket existed (mostly because there's been almost 1000 tickets submitted and I've been working on improvements)

Hopefully he can have a look at this and fix these issues soon, I seriously don't think this was done maliciously, but I'll do what I can to raise it (I have minimal exposure to open source licensing so I don't want to touch these files myself)

[-] Xariphon@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

I understood some of those words.

[-] gsa4555@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Heard they stole it from a trans woman. Wouldn't that make the kbin dev transphobic?

Edit: Wow a lot of transphobes already downvoting ne

[-] VerifiablyMrWonka@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago

Only in the same way that stealing code from a PoC would make me racist, stealing code from a Jew would make me anti-semitic or stealing code from a woman would make me sexist.

Since, without proof of any of that you're just making shit up I'm going to go with the reason that your post is being downvoted is that ITS JUST FUCKING STUPID.

[-] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Actually had to re-read old mates comment above us to see if I was missing satire / sarcasm. Like no way anyone legitimately thinks like this? 🤯

[-] Alto@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I've got some unfortunate news for you

[-] Bendersnose 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Please don't derail the thread with this accusation, you're not helping. Stick to the topic at hand (the license being willfully violated) and don't speculate.

[-] ram@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 year ago

No, it wouldn't.

[-] Cylusthevirus@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago

Doing something shitty to a trans person is only transphobia when you're doing it because they're trans, yet you've provided no substantive evidence for this claim. It also does not align with what Ernest has said in this thread and others. Saying shit like this without evidence is trashy and irresponsible and THAT is why you're being down voted. Do better.

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago

All he's said in this thread is that he's not giving her the credit he promised to give her because he would have to "label sections of the code" which 1. Isn't true (read the zlib license for yourself) and 2. Would not be any kind of a roadblock if it were true.

[-] DarkThoughts@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

That's not how transphobia works. That's straight up US conservative victim complex type of framing.

[-] gsa4555@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

K

[-] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You're getting downvoted because you're spouting rubbish without actually providing any evidence, not because people are "transphobic".

Not every unfortunate action that happens to trans people can be attributed to people being "transphobic", like it's a coordinated attack

[-] Bendersnose 1 points 1 year ago

No, a cis man telling a trans woman he'll give her credit for her hard work "today" and still making strained excuses to avoid doing it 2 months later isn't problematic at all. How dare you drag his good name through the mud? Don't you see how hard he's working to have his people slightly reword her code so he can avoid having to name her in the codebase?

[-] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I'd like to highlight that there's been a recent PR that's added the licensing to several files

https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/pulls/1006

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