'Notepad++ For Mac' Release Is Disavowed By the Creator of the Original (arstechnica.com) 31
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica, written by Andrew Cunningham: As its name implies, the venerable Notepad++ text editor began as a more capable version of the classic Windows Notepad, with features such as line numbering and syntax highlighting. It was created in 2003 by Don Ho, who continues to be its primary author and maintainer, and it has been a Windows-exclusive app throughout its existence (older Notepad++ versions support OSes as old as Windows 95; the current version officially supports everything going back to Windows 7). I'm not a devoted user of the app, but I was aware of its history, which is why I was surprised to see news of a "Notepad++ for Mac" port making the rounds last week, as though it were a port of the original available from the Notepad++ website.
Apparently, this news surprised Ho as well, who claims that the Mac version and its author, Andrey Letov, are "using the Notepad++ trademark (the name) without permission." "This is misleading, inappropriate, and frankly disrespectful to both the project and its users," Ho wrote. "It has already fooled people -- including tech media -- into believing this is an official release. To be crystal clear: Notepad++ has never released a macOS version. Anyone claiming otherwise is simply riding on the Notepad++ name." Ho repeatedly asked the developer to stop using the brand and eventually reported the trademark use to Cloudflare, the CDN of the Notepad++ for Mac site. "Every day that website remains active, you are in further violation of the law," Ho wrote. "I cannot authorize a 'week or two' of continued trademark infringement."
Letov has since begun rebranding the app as "NextPad++," though the old branding and URL reportedly remained available. The name changes is "an homage to NeXT Computer," notes Ars, "and uses a frog icon rather than the Notepad++ lizard."
Apparently, this news surprised Ho as well, who claims that the Mac version and its author, Andrey Letov, are "using the Notepad++ trademark (the name) without permission." "This is misleading, inappropriate, and frankly disrespectful to both the project and its users," Ho wrote. "It has already fooled people -- including tech media -- into believing this is an official release. To be crystal clear: Notepad++ has never released a macOS version. Anyone claiming otherwise is simply riding on the Notepad++ name." Ho repeatedly asked the developer to stop using the brand and eventually reported the trademark use to Cloudflare, the CDN of the Notepad++ for Mac site. "Every day that website remains active, you are in further violation of the law," Ho wrote. "I cannot authorize a 'week or two' of continued trademark infringement."
Letov has since begun rebranding the app as "NextPad++," though the old branding and URL reportedly remained available. The name changes is "an homage to NeXT Computer," notes Ars, "and uses a frog icon rather than the Notepad++ lizard."
Re: (Score:1)
why would you say this without an example
i just checked the website and the help file, where are these tirades
im calling you a liar until you post what triggered so thoroughly and then i get the feeling ill just be calling you a cupcake snowflake
Re: (Score:3)
I don't know what the AC you replied to is referring to, but Don Ho has occasionally used the release notes (opened automatically after installing an update) and the web site to express anti-PRC opinions. I wouldn't call them "tirades", but some people apparently get very upset if software developers express opinions.
Re: (Score:2)
That's called spam, whether or not I or anyone else agrees with it (or not).
Re:Takes two to tango (Score:4, Insightful)
That's called spam, whether or not I or anyone else agrees with it (or not).
Spam is messages you have not agreed to receive. If he's sending them out to you then they're spam. If he's posting announcements about them, they're arguably spam. If he's including them in other messages then it's just offtopic content.
Re: Takes two to tango (Score:2)
personal political activism, tirades and opinions that don't seem germane to a piece of software or palatable to a general audience.
I have no idea what his politics are, nor do I care. Regardless of what they may be, nobody has any kind of obligation, moral or otherwise, to adopt an ideology agreeable with yours, just because they're in some kind of position that you envy or that makes them much more noticeable than you are, or because they produce something you really like.
The art is not the artist, nor vice versa, nor need it be. Be glad he's giving you something you value without even asking anything in return.
Re: (Score:2)
BBedit (Score:5, Interesting)
Does the job. Been doing the job on Macs for decades (since 1992). Sometimes called Text Wrangler (it was the free cut-down version), until BBedit got a free version too. Please support Bare Bones by using BBedit.
And there's always VIM.
BBedit and Beyond Compare are my two must-have utilities on my Macs. Both companies have served Mac users for a long time, great products, great support and none of this bullshit and enshitification like so many recent software companies.
Re: (Score:3)
Another vote for BBEdit. Fast and easy to use.
"It Still Doesn't Suck!"
Trademark (Score:2)
Don Ho is correct about his trademark (yes, it's registered), and Andrey Letov appears to be showing the proper respect to Don by renaming and rebranding the port.
Re:Trademark (Score:4, Informative)
Don Ho is correct about his trademark (yes, it's registered), and Andrey Letov appears to be showing the proper respect to Don by renaming and rebranding the port.
That's a charitable interpretation of what's been going on. If you read the GitHub issue, Don Ho has been asking Andrey Letov for days to rebrand, and Andrey has been stalling and deferring, and even after he started the rename, and was implying some sort of coordination between the projects or official support where none existed. Don was initially very polite with Andrey, giving him the benefit of the doubt, but it's become clear through his tactics that Andrey has been trying to ride Notepad++'s trademark into launch his vibe-coded MacOS port.
Re: Trademark (Score:2)
Days.
I don't give a * about a spat over a few hours or days.
Trademark law can take YEARS to resolve.
For anyone other than Natepad++, this is a nothing.
Trademark in GPU source (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
Creators of derivative works don't need the right to use the original name, just the code.
Re: (Score:2)
you can still fork the code, find&replace the old trademark name with a new one, job done
Trademark and GPL aren't incompatible and you can still say "forked from ABC at ($date)", you have a new product, new name and proper trademark usage
Re: (Score:2)
As others have already implied, GPL needs no such special handling for trademarks, and this is nothing new. See OpenOffice/LibreOffice, Redis/Valkey, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, MySQL/MariaDB, Firefox/Iceweasel, etc etc etc.. And why shouldn't an OpenSource product have a trademarked name?
TextEdit++ (Score:4, Interesting)
The name TextEdit++ was right there.
Re: (Score:2)
Given the Apple/Mac history with NeXT, I think the name he chose is more fitting.
Same malware? (Score:2)
Does the Mac version have all the malware in it from last year?
https://www.pcmag.com/news/chi... [pcmag.com]
(probably not, but it would be funny if it did)
Re: (Score:1)
iMal
Drama, even for something this mundane.... Sad. (Score:2)
We use Notepad++ in my workplace. (At least, some of our software devs do. I maintain it as one of the apps they can install via "Company Portal" in Windows from InTune.)
I had no issues with the software, but I agree it seems pretty similar to other options out there like BBEdit. When I saw the news of a Mac version, I thought, "That's good... more choices for people. I'd never use it, but ..." And now, all this drama because it was released by someone other than the original author.
It sounds like it'll
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"Best answer here would have been Don Ho doing a Mac port of Notepad++ himself. I mean, why not?"
There could be a number of reasons.
Two examples are:
1. He may not be interested in Mac programming and/or supporting Apple's closed ecosystem.
2. He may not be prepared to purchase a Mac and pay Apple their ongoing fees for development and distribution of Mac applications.
I'm sure you can think of others.
no (Score:3)
As its name implies, the venerable Notepad++ text editor began as a more capable version of the classic Windows Notepad
s/version of/replacement for/ - the project's webpage says as much.
In no way was Notepad++ ever a version of Notepad, which is a tech demo for some controls written by Microsoft .
Re: (Score:2)
Notepad, which is a tech demo for some controls written by Microsoft
Apparently, its current purpose is a demo for their "Copilot" AI technology.
Re: (Score:2)
Apparently, its current purpose is a demo for their "Copilot" AI technology.
Fair, that's a more accurate description of what it is now, what I said is actually what it was.
Easy fix (Score:2)
Notepad+=1
Wrong Ho? (Score:2)