Want to help whip the llama’s ass? Winamp goes open source (sort of)

If you’re a Gen Xer or Millenial who used to listen to music on your Windows XP computer back in the 2000s, you probably have fond memories of the llama-whipping Winamp.

Though it was discontinued back in 2013, it was picked up by new owners a few years ago and re-released for a comeback that never quite crystallized. And then earlier this year, those new developers announced that Winamp would be going open source.

Well, that day has finally come. BleepingComputer reports that Winamp’s source code, development tools, and relevant Windows libraries have all been uploaded to GitHub (with some albeit meager instructions on how to actually build the thing). If you have experience developing apps with DirectX 9 SDK, you may find this project worth participating in.

However, keen users will quickly spot that Winamp’s license is none of the usual suspects you see in truly open-source projects. You might’ve expected the code to be licensed under GPL, MIT, or Apache, but it’s actually bound by the custom Winamp Collaborative License.

The main hitch here is that the WCL allows you to use, modify, and study Winamp’s code but allows no provision for forking the project, distributing the source/binaries, or using any of the Winamp code in other projects. It’s murky water at best.

You may or may not find the terms acceptable. What’s important is that you give it all a proper read and make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before you contribute.

Further reading: The best open-source apps for Windows