Winamp: Source code disclosed – discussion about license

The source code of the MP3 player Winamp is now available free of charge on the Internet. As announced in May, the company has now made the sources available in a Github project. However, the proprietary license causes discussions among interested parties.

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The sources are in their own Github project Ready. In the associated readme, the company writes that by opening the sources, developers can help modernize the player and adapt it to the needs of today’s users. Winamp also explains what is needed to help develop the software. It is a “Visual Studio 2019” project and uses Intel IPP libraries, which should be available in version 6.1.1.035, the developers write. They also list dependencies on libraries and third-party components.

Winamp sources under proprietary license

Anyone who hoped that Winamp would release the sources under one of the more permissive licenses such as the GPL or even the public domain would be disappointed. The company relies on its own proprietary license, which it calls the “Winamp Collaborative License (WCL)”. However, it was initially logically too restrictive – for example, it did not allow the project to be leveraged, which, however, is a prerequisite for further development. So the company immediately got a license Upgraded to version 1.0.1 and removed the sentence: “No Forking: You may not create, maintain, or distribute a forked version of the Software”.

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While some in the comments welcome this and see it as a response to community feedback, others ask how one is supposed to create a fork without distributing the software if forks are public by default. “There is still no OSI (Open Source Initiative) certified license,” says another developer. Another programmer plainly complains: “A true amateur, whoever created this license. And how can you claim it’s a collaborative license? It seems to me that you want people to use your work for free.”

Since changes to the license were already possible before, it is at least not impossible that Winamp will continue to accommodate interested collaborators. Now that the license has been chosen, interest in collaboration is likely to wane.

In May, Winamp announced that it would release the sources of its once hugely popular MP3 player as open source. The company wants to find co-developers. However, it wants to retain full control. Managing director Alexandre Saboundjian put it on hold in May: “Winamp will remain the owner of the software and will decide which innovations make it into the official version.”

Winamp can now look back on 27 eventful years. At one point it was the most popular MP3 player on the Windows desktop, but it has now been overtaken by music streaming services. It’s possible that the current move to make the software open-source will help it gain a second spring.

(DMK)