Hey guys, this time I really messed up :/

I think you should see something.

Like I mentioned many time before, this isn't my first attempt at creating an aggregator. Years ago, I built something similar, and back then I drew a lot of inspiration from Postmill. This time, to avoid starting from scratch, I get some elements from my old snippets. Originally, kbin was meant to be a project just for me and a few friends, so I didn't attribute the origin authors. That's not an excuse, though — I should have done it right away when the project became public on git. I have a point in my roadmap called "Preparing a repository for contributors," where I allocated a significant amount of time to educate myself about licenses, attributions, and so on. Unfortunately, everything unfolded in the wrong order.

https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/issues/196

I think Emma is right. Since I share my small successes with you, I also want to be transparent about my failures and mistakes. I will push the proper attributions to the repository today along with some critical fixes.

To avoid reinventing the wheel, I took some code used in federation from Pixelfed as well. Essentially, there are two projects two projects will be marked. However, I have never concealed this fact:

https://kbin.social/m/random/p/254858/The-real-reason-why-I-haven-t-published-the-pixelfed-app#post-comment-438684

I mean that I'm not a guy who wants to steal your code. It's obvious that someone will take a look at the code of a project that is very similar to theirs. Sometimes, I just become terribly messy when I have to do many things at once. This lesson will definitely teach me to prioritize tasks better.

In the end, I can only promise that once everything settles down and I manage to extract a library for ActivityPub, I will revisit the Postmill repository, this time with a pull request proposal.

You should definitely check it out.

https://postmill.xyz/ - Project page
https://raddle.me/ - Postmill instance
https://pixelfed.org/ - Of course, everyone here is familiar with this one ;)

PS. the website should be running a bit faster. I will talk about it next time.

azura,

It's alright. I do think the actual issue was worded perhaps a bit harshly and combative, and I think you responded correctly. Very much appreciate the accountability here. To be honest if anything, this probably gives me more faith in you in the long run. There are many ways you could have dealt with it, but as far as I can see you've dealt with the issue as honorably as you could have.
Proper attribution can be tricky. We all learn. We all make mistakes. A lot of us will never release a project that makes it as far as yours has so even our issues don't become even nearly as visible.
Keep your head up and stay calm. You're doing great. We got you.

JonEFive,

There are many ways you could have dealt with it, but as far as I can see you've dealt with the issue as honorably as you could have

It's certainly a far cry away from "We will remain profit driven until profits arrive" that a certain someone said in response to a legitimate question over on the other site. A breath of fresh air really.

CoderKat,
@CoderKat@kbin.social avatar

Lol, exactly what I was thinking. I can't imagine a Reddit admin posting something like this.

knoland,

Cross-posting my comment:

This is one of my largest frustrations with the open source community. Everything is immediately assumed as malicious. There is no escalation, it's "you screwed me over" from the jump.

I suppose it's bred from decades of large corporations pilfering open source for profit. However, this post could easily have been, "I noticed there's some code I wrote that wasn't attributed, would you mind adding that?". Escalate from there if the appropriate actions aren't taken.

neonfire,
@neonfire@kbin.social avatar

For real, the person's name is LitigousEmma. This is one step away from a copyright troll, which imo seems to the the mortal enemy of the idea of FOSS. Did this Emma recognize all the developers of the programming languages they used, or the people who made the computer they worked on, or the pioneers of electronics in general? It's not like Emma took quarks and atoms and turned it into an web aggregator.

knoland,

In LitigousEmma's defense, kbin did not comply with the license terms of the open source software, so there is a valid concern here. Unlike most programming languages which are often released under licenses which do not requite attribution.

However, mistakes happen. The open source community is better off if we could all just start from 0 and escalate based on response.

gus,
@gus@kbin.social avatar

Honestly that's my only issue with this. Ernest was totally rightfully called out for this, as he should have been. But Emma's knee jerk reaction is just a real bad look. Don't make any attempt to reach out and figure out why it's in there. Immediately make a public post accusing him of stealing code, trying to hide that he stole it, and claim it as his own...on a FOSS project no less...

Surely there's a step or 2 before that point..

knoland,

I don't have any issue with opening an issue in the repo, that part seems reasonable. It, by definition, is an issue with the codebase.

gus,
@gus@kbin.social avatar

Right, I wasn't saying it shouldn't have been a public post. Just that the public post shouldn't have immediately jumped to accusations. FOSS or not, accusing someone of stealing code and intentionally trying to obfuscate its origin to pass it off as their own is a big deal for a developer. One that can destroy your reputation

A simple "I've noticed snippets in here of my work that falls under a license which is not attributed at all. Could you add the proper attributions or remove it from your project?" says the same thing and doesn't jump to any accusations that you have no idea if are true or not

Rhaedas,
@Rhaedas@kbin.social avatar

Not knowing either parties at all, I'd say the best solution is to assume both meant the best and some mistakes were made. One for forgetting to give credit for code, the other for wording in their asking to fix the mistake. At the end of the day, credit is given and the code grows, both benefit. Don't dwell on the small stuff that got there, problem is solved.

gus,
@gus@kbin.social avatar

Agreed! Totally think this is a learning experience for both sides

An...earnest mistake?

I'm sorry

argv_minus_one,

accusing someone of stealing code and intentionally trying to obfuscate its origin to pass it off as their own is a big deal for a developer. One that can destroy your reputation

Is it? It sure didn’t destroy the reputations of the Microsoft employees who plagiarized Stacker. And their plagiarism cost people their livelihoods, not just a smidgen of fame.

Adama,

Some good points but a counter point to consider.

Whether it’s a photo used without permission by a big company or people using your work without attribution there does tend to be a dismissive attitude overall (not that that is the case here)

I can see how somebody could come into this situation with that as the background and just cut right to the chase.

There wasn’t a “cease and desist” (the legal equivalent of an ahem) nor a DMCA copyright takedown (harsher but less financial damaging than a copyright suit with damages)

Their tone was scolding but it was a “hey… heads up… you gotta fix this” without resorting to any of the above.

Ernest took it with the right attitude and Emma accepted it and that’s that.

Couldn’t really ask for a better outcome and Emma has every right to come out swinging harder than she did.

I can’t speak to her experience with this but personally it is sometimes better to be firm (but fair) at the outset so people don’t ignore a softer tone requiring you to escalate it.

That’s just bad for everybody all around.

argv_minus_one,

She may have had the right, but that doesn’t mean it was necessary.

neonfire,
@neonfire@kbin.social avatar

Copyright is the enemy of freedom and knowledge. What if Einstein copyrighted E=MC^2? Emma didn't create the software, they just figured out how to make it.

Adama,

And instead of making it closed they made it available under open source licensing. With the only terms being attribution.

They’re not the bad guy here. Nor is Ernest. There’s no bad guys here just a mistake, a call to fix it, a fix and an acceptance of that fix.

Really Ernest showed the perfect example of “if you have to eat crow eat it while it’s young and tender”

andromedusgalacticus,
@andromedusgalacticus@lemm.ee avatar

What an interesting phrase. I’ve never heard that one before. Perfectly sums up less elegant forms of phrasing it.

airsay,

We have a similar one in Nigeria. If you are going to eat a frog, eat a fat one that has eggs

FaceDeer,
@FaceDeer@kbin.social avatar

He couldn't have copyrighted E=mc^2, he'd have had to patent it. But laws of nature are excluded from patent eligibiligy in the US, and presumably most other jurisdictions.

Software code is an interesting edge case in the middle. The code itself is a creative expression, and so copyright applies. This brings benefits as well as restrictions; software code is also speech as far as many free-speech rights are concerned. The algorithms expressed by the code are subject to software patents, which is a more controversial grey area.

DracolaAdil,
@DracolaAdil@kbin.social avatar

I agree. Firstly, a public post...and secondly...a public post bashing a fellow developer with passive aggressive quotes.

Now I may be assuming but it didn't seem like LitigiousEmma mad an attempt to privately contact Ernest and... and assumed the worst in the post.

I'm just a reddit normie so I don't know what happens behind the scenes but so far Ernest has been earnest and honest... as long as that is the case I'll stand with you bud!

You made a mistake and are taking responsibility for it. I respect that!

P.S. - Notice how LitigiousEmma's post is recent. LE just wants their name out there. If Kbin flopped then no fs would be given.

azura,

Nah I do believe that it was right to open an issue, and also that the code should've been credited. But it is now. Also I mean... yes? How else would you expect for them to find the code? /kbin is a project with quite a few eyes on it now. If you upload a project that nobody looks at, of course things like that go unnoticed. Doesn't make them less wrong.
But all is well that ends well. If you do anything in the public, you gotta be prepared to deal with people who might not be the friendliest. That's fine. I think defusing the situation like was done here and immediately fixing the problem was exactly how this kind of thing should have gone. It's on all of us to defuse tense situations, whether we're bringing up an issue or responding to an issue brought up by someone that might be offended. Kinda like how you should be driving defensively to avoid any accidents before they can begin to happen. I guess? Oh god I'm making too many driving analogies today I really gotta stop.
[edit]: I'm also not trying to call out the person opening the issue. There are many ways why it might have been worded like that, including past experience. People are very complex and seeing just a snippet of them like this isn't what we should immediately base all of our judgements on.

sickcodebruh,

Mistakes happen, what matters is how you recover from them. Keep doing what you’re doing!

miroppb,
@miroppb@kbin.social avatar

Website is definitely running faster. Thank you @ernest

Adderalldependent,

This is the kind of transparent communication that buys so much goodwill and trust from the community. I've been enjoying my first experience in the Fediverse with Kbin, and the response here only makes me love it that much more. Nicely handled.

PtitSerpent,
@PtitSerpent@kbin.social avatar

I think we did a good choice

JonEFive,

Agreed. I had already created an account on a Lemmy instance (Lemmy.one since I wanted to avoid the two main .ml instances). I had just about settled but decided to give Kbin a try. While it doesn't seem quite as far along in it's development, it struck me as a better user experience. Combined with reservations I have about the Lemmy developers... Well, here we are. And seeing this level of involvement and dedication to doing the right thing from the developer confirms that choice. Kudos @ernest

DerWilliWonka,

As I am totally new to this whole thing, could you elaborate for me on those reservations about the lemmy developers? And are those the same that created lemmy.world?

RaleighEnt,

Damn emma really tore into you in that issue lol. A lot of assumptions about malicious intentions when a simple mistake seems much more likely. I mean I know they're in the right defending their work but damn idk if they needed to make such a big public stink about it lol

ernest,
@ernest@kbin.social avatar

It seems to me that she did it very gently ;)

0xtero,

Contacting the project "officially" through the the public tracker was the right thing to do.
As for the tone of the message - I don't think it was out of line considering the circumstances.

Mistakes do happen (licensing is actually hard) - and I'm happy to see it got fixed fast.

0x1C3B00DA,
@0x1C3B00DA@kbin.social avatar

Mistakes do happen (licensing is actually hard)

Which is why the tone is striking people here as over the top. Ernest is clearly not a large business trying to profit off their work so some benefit of the doubt was warranted.

Ernest corrected it and the story is over so none of this matters, but open source devs going at other devs who make a mistake with attribution just makes the ecosystem a less nice place to be. Save that hostility for the ones trying to take advantage of others

RaleighEnt,

Yeah I suppose you're right. Just the little digs at earnest's character seem needlessly hostile to me. like saying he edited the code to hide its origins or saying "what would your sponsors think?"

idk. just don't like it. I do feel for them, I'm sure having your work copied without credit sucks. just wish we could all be friends and hold hands and shit:(

effingjoe,
@effingjoe@kbin.social avatar

Is 'LitigiousEmma' an inside joke, or an extremely relevant username? haha

Edit: For some reason this keeps bouncing around in my head and the more I think about the more I believe that Emma should have contacted you privately (at first, anyway) instead of jumping right into attempting to publicly shame you.

0xtero,

Edit: For some reason this keeps bouncing around in my head and the more I think about the more I believe that Emma should have contacted you privately (at first, anyway) instead of jumping right into attempting to publicly shame you.

The issue tracker for kbin codebase was the correct place to submit the complaint.

Licensing issues are tricky and if you're the copyright holder there's no way to know if people stealing your code are acting in good faith or not. Best course of action is to document and report the violations "officially". You need to have a clear track record in case the other part is going to try to deny or obfuscate the situation.

It was the right thing to do.

As for the tone and the username.
From what I can see, she's the main dev for that codebase and has been for many, many years. She gets to decide the tone, she's the one who's defending her rights and work.

Having said that, ernest handled it well - and is clearly acting in good faith. So that should be the end of that.

slowd0wn,

I’m not a coder, so hopefully you can answer my question. When using open source code, does each instance of borrowed code need to be “tagged” and identified to attribute to the original author? My brain keeps telling me that all this code needs is a MLA reference page, but after reading this post I’m assuming it’s more difficult than that.

bspar,

Yup that’s basically it. If you have some electronic device (like an Android or iPhone), you can go to some sort of “about phone” setting page and poke around for a licenses button that’ll show you all the software that your device uses. It’s just proper attribution.

I’ve done reverse engineering and found obvious illegally used GPL code in closed source projects, and they could (theoretically) get in big trouble for not following the license. (I anonymously requested their source based on the terms of the license, but the company threatened to sue for reverse engineering, so it’s often not worth it)

NoIWontPickaName,

Hi Emma!

j3j5,
@j3j5@hachyderm.io avatar

@ernest Hey man, if it's of any help, I have a PHP (laravel) project which mostly federates fine, license is AGPLv3 as well, so feel free to reuse what you see fit.

Edit: may be more useful with the link 🤦‍♂️

https://gitlab.com/j3j5/fedibots/

ernest,
@ernest@kbin.social avatar

I will definitely check it out! Thanks

j3j5,
@j3j5@hachyderm.io avatar

@ernest It's still wip so not all AP activities are supported yet, but it's powering some of my bots ( @BigBo_Energy @MeteoUY @LaDiaria )

developerjustin,
@developerjustin@mastodon.social avatar

@ernest I thought you killed someone, based on the title 😂

I agree with the other commenter. Seems like you’re making it right. This is a new and sometimes messy frontier for a lot of people and processes. If someone is worried about protecting their IP, this isn’t the hill to die on.

Zak8022,
@Zak8022@kbin.social avatar

Seems that so long as the attribution is in place the Postmill people aren't going to push it further. I (and I hope the community) appreciate your transparency and honesty. That's the sort of thing that makes me want to stick around here and support this project.

And for fun, I will check out those other sites, since I hadn't heard about Postmill/Raddle before.

aeternum,

last time i used raddle, admittedly it was about a year ago, it was a barren wasteland.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • kbinMeta@kbin.social
  • meta
  • Macbeth
  • All magazines
    •