Audacity’s new owner is in another fight with the open source community

Enlarge / MuseScore (the website) offers access to hundreds of thousands of sheet music arrangements. MuseScore (the application) allows easy editing and modification, MIDI playback, and more. (credit: Muse Group)

Muse Group-owner of the popular audio-editing app Audacity-is in hot water with the open source community again. This time, the controversy isn't over Audacity-it's about MuseScore, an open source application that allows musicians to create, share, and download musical scores (especially, but not only, in the form of sheet music).

The MuseScore app itself is licensed GPLv3, which gives developers the right to fork its source and modify it. One such developer, Wenzheng Tang ("Xmader" on GitHub) went considerably further than modifying the app-he also created separate apps designed to bypass MuseScore Pro subscription fees.

After thoroughly reviewing the public comments made by both sides at GitHub, Ars spoke at length with Muse Group Head of Strategy Daniel Ray-known on GitHub by the moniker "workedintheory"-to get to the bottom of the controversy.

Read 30 remaining paragraphs | Comments