You can FINALLY use JSHint for evil (Interview)

The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Today we welcome Mike Pennisi into our Maintainer Spotlight. This is a special flavor of The Changelog where we go deep into a maintainer’s story. Mike is the maintainer of JSHint which, since its creation in 2011, was encumbered by a license that made it very hard for legally-conscious teams to use the project. The license was the widely-used MIT Expat license, but it included one additional clause: “The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil.” Because of this clause, many teams could not use JSHint.

Today’s episode with Mike covers the full gamut of JSHint’s journey and how non-free licensing can poison the well of free software.

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Featuring:

• Mike Pennisi – Website, GitHub, X
• Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
• Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

• You May Finally Use JSHint for Evil
• 2020 Relicensing
• JSHint: Watching the Ship Sink
• JSHint: Dug In
• JSHint: Asking Nicely
• JSHint: Wrestling it Free
• Karen Sandler from the FSC on The Changelog

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!