zlacker

The article got me a bit worried about the idea of developing software out in the open, and the comments in this thread give me conflicting ideas.

If I make a public repository `ComputerCleaner` with a single file:

  #!/usr/bin/env bash

  # <imagine an MIT license here>

  rm -rf /

Should I soon expect to be defending legal threats from random strangers who ran this code only to gasp find that it deleted their files?

>>andrew+(OP)
The law pertains to commercial software, see:

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/de/press-room/20231205IP...

>>andrew+(OP)
> Should I soon expect to be defending legal threats from random strangers who ran this code only to gasp find that it deleted their files?

Yes. The developers of software have a fiduciary duty to users of their software.

The UK court of appeals already determined that the MIT license does not eliminate these duties when it found the authors of Bitcoin Core liable for billions of pounds of damages to Satoshi Nakamoto when they failed to change the Bitcoin protocol to return the coins that hackers took from him.

If you don't want to get sued and end up homeless and bankrupt like those Bitcoin Core developers you need to learn to obey the law and act in the best interest of your user.