Winamp source code vanishes from GitHub
Winamp was a beloved media player for tech fans of a certain age, and there was much excitement when the software was made open source. At least it was sort of open source; restrictions on use were such that many people questioned the validity of labelling it as such when it appeared on GitHub less than a month ago.
But all of a sudden the source code is no longer available. Llama Group has now deleted the GitHub repository where the code had been published and, while there has been no official announcement made, there is speculation that the deletion came because of licensing issues with bundled codecs.
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The journey for Winamp has been a rocky one. When the source code was first released back in September, it was under the somewhat restrictive Winamp Collaborative License (WCL) 1.0, which forbade forking. Following complaints, the licence was changed to WCL 1.0.1 which allowed for forking but not distribution. Still not technically open source, but a step closer.
But there have also been concerns voiced about Llama Group’s right to distribute some of the Winamp source code. Some people noticed that the code uploaded to GitHub included codec code belonging to Intel and Microsoft. Also spotted was code for Shoutcast Distributed Network Audio Server (DNAS), property of the original owners of Winamp, Nullsoft.
Head over to the WinampDesktop page on GitHub and you’ll now be greeted by a message informing you that “This organization has no public repositories”. It is not clear when -- or if -- this may change.
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