6mo ago

Winamp deletes entire GitHub source code repo after a rocky few weeks

arstechnica.com

Technik @feddit.org

fusspilz @feddit.org

6mo ago

Winamp deletes entire GitHub source code repo after a rocky few weeks - Ars Technica

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2024/10/winamp-really-whips-open-source-coders-into-frenzy-with-its-source-release/

technology @hexbear.net

git [he/him, comrade/them] @hexbear.net

6mo ago

Winamp deletes entire GitHub source code repo after a rocky few weeks

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2024/10/winamp-really-whips-open-source-coders-into-frenzy-with-its-source-release/

117 comments

Well, that really sucks the llama's ass.
- Uhhh

WACUP
https://getwacup.com/
Replacing native Winamp code with modern code with frequent updates by one of the most prolific classic Winamp developers.
It's fantastic.
- But does it whip the llamas ass?
  
  Naturally
  
  wacup! it really whips the ladspa's ass!
- What a shame that it isn't open source.
  I'll happily continue to use Audacious with a Winamp skin.
  
  Well, given the very unorthodox nature of it as it is today, I don't know that Dr0 can legally open source it until he's finished replacing literally all legacy functions with new code, even if they wanted to. But I can understand your position.
- And you can set the visuals to unlimited fps, which is fun on a good screen
- That's so interesting!
- Geiss support tho?

Unsurprising given that their repo's license was a contradictory mess
Anyways I'd recommend using Strawberry instead
It's an actual Free and Open Source music player:
Licensed under GPL-3.0
Project Repo
- ...That site's UI looks like someone saw the marketing literature for the Frigidaire produce preserver and said, "Yeah, that'll do."
  
  lmao😆
  btw did you mean the background?
  UI typically refers to the user interactable elements
- Lovely that it is open source, but dear lord that UI is a blast from the past 😂😂 👴👵🏚️
  
  It's an Amarok fork, so yes
  
  It’s ugly af. Hope some designer can volunteer to set them straight.
- Strawberry doesn't support about a dozen audio formats I use, so until it's got wider support I have to pass.
  
  You have support for .wav .flac .mp3 .opus, why would you use anything else?
  
  What formats?
- Will strawberry let me play a folder as a playlist from the DE's context menus? Like right click > play in strawberry.
- Strawberry doesn’t appear to include a visualizer?
  
  it looks like there's a light-blue-on-white strip visualizer over the timeline at the bottom.
- Nice profile picture!
  
  Thanks!
  most people don't notice🤗
- I mostly use mpv to play local music nowadays. (Most of the music I play is streamed using a Navidrome server with Feishin as the frontend.) Back when I did use a proper audio player on Linux, Harmonoid was my go-to.

I'm surprised they kept it up for so long honestly. It was very clear they had no fucking clue what they were doing. What with the nonsensical license that violated Github's tos, the Dolby Code they leaked, and the fact they kept every commit public for everyone to see.
- And it's not like deleting will fix it now, it's been copied millions of times now.

Can someone explain me what's the business model of an app that's free for three decades? They claim to have 100 devs, how can they pay them?
- They're sponsored by WinRAR. Those guys are loaded.
  
  Is this real?
- The current revived version appears to be tied to a content streaming platform for "creators," and also sells NFT's. The mothership certainly gets a cut of all of those sales. Just like seemingly every other techbro venture nowadays, their business model entirely revolves around being a "service," and the media player itself is apparently just a side hobby. (Note that this is basically exactly the same mutation that happened to Napster. That worked well.)
  Otherwise, the answer is sponsorship by a corporate sugar daddy. Even the OG Winamp was sponsored by and then ultimately bought outright by AOL.
  
  sells NFTs*

I just use Audacious with a winamp skin. Looks identical but actually FOSS.
- Been doing this recently too. I've just got the default Winamp skin, but it's so nice to have that part of my childhood back.

I think I tried Winamp back in the day but never really understood it.
One has to admit it's good that they released the source code (while it was available) so users can learn what their software is actually doing on their computer. Better for yourself as a dev too: you will probably avoid including other people's work in yours. However, wanting contributions while retaining the exclusive right to distribute the software is anti-collaborative. I'm reluctant to say it might as well be proprietary again but since it doesn't meet the standard of software freedom then it's equally not worth trying on my computer.
- In its day Winamp was the most comprehensive media player and users were super into its skinability which was a big deal at the time. Nowadays the "plays everything" throne is very firmly occupied by VLC, with a little cushioned stool next to it for Media Player Classic to sit on. However, neither of them offer the user interface experience that Winamp does/did.
  Winamp was iTunes before iTunes. It was Spotify before Spotify. It did an excellent job of managing the hordes of totally legitimate MP3's we all had back in the day, and did so with an aplomb that nothing else seemed to manage. Really, its playlist and library management was top notch. Newer apps still piss me off because none of them do it the way Winamp did.
  Side note, if you have an old iPod kicking around and don't feel like dealing with Apple's ecosystem, Winamp can still, to this very day, stick music on your device natively without having to install or use iTunes. Just saying.
  But this source code release thing really baffles me. I have no idea what the point of that was supposed to be.
  
  I'd say that mpv also has a place near VLC when it comes to playing everything.
  
  Really, its playlist and library management was top notch. Newer apps still piss me off because none of them do it the way Winamp did.
  It's why I still use winamp.
  
  It did an excellent job of managing the hordes of totally legitimate MP3’s we all had back in the day, and did so with an aplomb that nothing else seemed to manage. Really, its playlist and library management was top notch.
  This is why I'm still on the eternal search for a replacement. Library management was really, really good in Winamp. I use Strawberry these days and it's absolutely great at playing stuff but the playlist management is just 'good enough'.
- I think I tried Winamp back in the day but never really understood it.
  What was there not to understand? It was a basic music player with playlist functionality, a plugin infrastructure to support playback of pirated music in underground formats like MP3, at the price of completely free and no ads (the website had banners but not the player).
  
  Not sure what I could have expected from it back then. I just recall it being recommended online and ended up just using Win Media player (with the cool graphical effects).
- However, wanting contributions while retaining the exclusive right to distribute the software is anti-collaborative. I’m reluctant to say it might as well be proprietary again
  As you describe it, that is proprietary -- no "might as well be" qualification necessary. Just because you can read the source code doesn't make it Open Source; you've got to have all Four Freedoms for it to count.
  
  the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
  Is it not actually four or are they counting some of these as the same thing?

kicked by the llamas ass

I used VLC before and ill continue using VLC
- VLC UX kinda sucks, but it does everything I need it to.
  
  Agreed, considering VLCs functionality it can look ugly as hell
  
  What sucks about it? I just use it because it seems to play literally any video format
- i use musicbee for audio. vlc for video. musicbee is the most like mediamonkey used to be and free. got into vlc because of its better support of the unusual video formats
- Same even my school used vlc wayy before I knew floss software
- I use audacious. It's perfect.

I'm using foobar2000. Should I be using something else?
- Foobar is still the best there is, although the classic style interface might not appeal to younger people.
- Still miss foobar which isn't on Linux, though deadbeef is fairly similar at least. Never got the hang of all the beautiful themes/skins users put together for foobar but it was still my go to music player. Excellent layout customisation, tagging and conversion UI, as well as as nice range of plugins
  
  I really like deadbeef, coming from fb2k as well. Someone recommended it to me two weeks ago, and I've immediately recognized the similarities.
  Foobar's Dev should have just taken their project open source imo. Although I suspect winamp's lawyers would have jumped on that.
  
  I use Audacious with the original classic winamp skin (which it supports natively).
  I think QMMP also supports the winamps themes, and they both work well in Linux (which is all I run these days).
- I'm an old soul so I use music bee with the Tron skin, it's very 2000s