Old School Blues

calendar Apr 7, 2025 · 1 min read · Prattle

Can we stop pretending it's the 80's?

I like Unix-style programs. I like the expectation of a manual with every program, instead of every programmer coming up with their own way to telling people how something works. I like being able to ignore licences, and there's no better licence to ignore than the GPL - it will never turn on you, or pull shady shit. But I'm getting tired of seeing this archaic notes in man-pages:

1You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program;
2if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,  51  Franklin  Street,  Fifth  Floor,
3Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.

While this comes from man pass, the failure to come to grips with reality is not uncommon.

  • People use the program around the planet.
  • Anyone using pass already knows what the GPL is.
  • Nobody needs to 'receive a copy of the GNU General Public License' with the program, because we do not receive the program on punch-cards born by carrier pigeons.
  • If anyone wants to read the GPL, they can GOOGLE IT.