Is the GNU parallel ad okay, but other ads are not?
If so, what makes something a "good" ad? Or a "tasteful" one?
If this isn't an advertisement, what should I call it should I wish to put something similar in my code?
If it isn't an advertisement, what it is? A public service announcement?
If you do a work that needs strict citations and not cite properly, your project itself could be at stake. No one will pay 10,000EUR to be questioned by the ethics board about their work.
If not, what is it?
(Lots of advertisements contain/are jokes.)
And -- hah! You know how many papers there are which used software X, Y, and Z, all with cite-able references, and where the authors did NOT cite the software?
I mean, last year I was at a conference, talking to a vendor, who complained about academics, using their software under an academic license which clearly requires that the vendor be cited for any publications, who omit citing their work.
I have never heard of any scientific project which got in trouble for omitting a reference for an non-scientific software component like GNU parallel - and I can't think of any which have gotten into trouble for omitting a reference to a scientific software component they use.
At best it would be described as an oversight, and if the journal really is that strict (can you point to one?), resolved with a correction. It's certainly not a threat to the project.
But, let's suppose it is an issue.
Shouldn't more software components be doing this?