Ask HN: Source code release upon death

2 points by pmoriarty 8y ago ↗ HN

I've always wondered: have any developers ever made arrangements to release source code of their previously closed-source works upon their deaths?

What makes me wonder is that there's a lot of great closed-source software out there, a lot of which has become abandonware (while remaining closed) after their developers move on or disappear. Some closed-source developers may want to keep their work closed while they're alive to control the direction of development or for personal profit -- both reasons which would obviously no longer hold once their author has passed away. Some of them may want to release their source after their deaths, and I'm just wondering if that's ever happened or if anyone has plans to do so.

3 comments

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jetrois 8y ago ↗

Nope someone should get on that. Like an amendment to the EULA its a great idea we need to think more about digital assets after death possibly a digital will.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago ↗

Presumably this could be put in one's will like anything else. If they have sole rights to the code, all they'd need is their will to state that upon their death, the could should be released under whatever license by the estate.

programd 8y ago ↗

At the enterprise levels this is dealt with by code escrow. I did some research on this for my own business and Iron Mountain [0] seems to be the big player in the field. Costs seem to be in the roughly $1K setup and $1K/year range, but as usual with enterprise sales it's mostly "call us for a quote". I haven't had any clients ask for this yet, but it's good to be prepared if they do.

[0] https://www.ironmountain.com