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Comment by burntsushi | Hacker News Reader

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> IMHO if he has a problem with the way things worked out, he should have chosen a different license.

This is a classic conflation of legalese and ethics/decorum/professional courtesy. Just because something is legal doesn't make it good, and just because something is good doesn't make it legal.

For example, I abhor those who take credit for other peoples' work. But I use a license on software I write that permits folks to do just that.

What license allows one to take credit for another's work?

Any license without required attribution like "The Unlicense" .

That's an extreme reading. If I make a library, don't require attribution, and then you use it in your project without attribution, that's emphatically not the same thing as "taking credit" for my work.

CC0 is another one.

The WTFPL for one.

Sure but polite is often not profitable. Instead make your licenses line up with your wishes. It's another way of saying, "Hey you didn't say you needed it".

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