from th3raid0r@programming.dev to programming@programming.dev on 23 Jan 19:01
https://programming.dev/post/24426401
As in title, my company is seeing a huge uptick in abusive messages from Anaconda.com seeking licensing revenue.
They’re hitting many people across the org with legal threats - many with zero control of whether a person uses conda or not. I don’t use it in my job at all, and neither do my teammates.
FWIW - we’re a small-ish growing startup that just recently crossed the 200 employee line. Our product is a database often used for AI and there are many packages within the Anaconda ecosystem that are owned by us, not them. So I don’t know why they’d be hounding us for licensing since the primary reason we’d use conda is to contribute to conda - not consume it.
It’s starting the conversation of needing to drop conda support for future releases. If they’re going to be this utterly vile, then why would we spend the effort packaging for them?
It’s gotten so bad that I’ve made FTC complaints over this. I’m tired of the near daily threats for something I have zero control over.
If anyone else is experiencing this, I highly recommend reporting the abusive comms to the FTC here - reportfraud.ftc.gov - also forward the emails to your HR/Legal team so they know to contact the state AG.
threaded - newest
Anaconda Inc is terrible. I recommend mamba + conda forge but I don’t package stuff.
Glad you’re filing a complaint, and I hope others do as well. My experience with them as vendors of enterprise data science server software was quite disappointing.
Miniforge should be defaulting to use conda-forge. Perhaps an old installation is configured to use the Anaconda inc maintained
defaultschannel.Conda-forge.org provides a guide to rid your environments of the
defaultschannel.conda-forge.org/…/transitioning_from_defaults/
While I’m sure it was inevitable, especially in today’s climate, it saddens me to see Anaconda (and conda by extension I presume) go down like this. When they first came out it was such a breath of fresh air in the Python ecosystem.
I’m not sure in the details, but what’s the point in relying at all on any of their infrastructure? Is any of it independent enough?
Conda itself is outside of Anaconda, Inc’s control.
The real kicker is that I’m fairly sure we aren’t really using them at any real scale - if we do it’s to demo our product within the context of AI development. So if anything, they get a lot of free press when we do that. If they’re gonna throw a fit over it, I’m sure we can work with some other “AI” company (that’s what they bill themselves as) that wants the free marketing. Heck, I can’t imagine the anaconda ecosystem working out if they keep threatening the developers that enrich that ecosystem.
It’s all about your organization’s size and if the organization makes use of the Anaconda controlled
defaultschannel. I’m not a lawyer, but your company may be liable for some licensing fee if your company is using Anaconda’s repository of binaries. You’d need to consult with an actual lawyer for more reliable assessment of your potential liability.Switch to using miniforge and the conda-forge channel when installing and using Conda.
Sure. I can agree that my company would be liable. But the company isn’t mine. I just work here. And my team doesn’t use any conda stuff at all.
Essentially, I am being personally threatened of a lawsuit even though I have no ability to make a licensing or purchase decision.
That just doesn’t sit right with me.
Send the emails to your company’s legal team. It’s not your fight.
Already did, and agreed. I also asked the legal team if they could ask Anaconda.com to stop contacting me and threatening me personally. We shall see what happens.
200 employees is medium sized, not smallish. And how is it still a startup?
I’m not here to discuss the nuances of a startup versus medium sized company. Suffice it to say that much of the organization still views itself as a startup. Even though yes, you are right, it’s a medium sized organization.
www.datacamp.com/…/navigating-anaconda-licensing
Yes, I am aware.
I’m more asking if others are getting a wide spread of threatening messages across the org - even if they don’t regularly use conda/anaconda.
It’s like everyone glossed over “I don’t use it in my job at all, and neither do my teammates” bit.