My project is now an easter egg in Microsoft Flight Simulator (github.com)

Article summary

The author of a project that emulates old Microsoft Flight Simulator games discovered that their project was included as an Easter egg in the 40th Anniversary Edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator. The project is licensed under MIT, which allows for free use and modification. The author was not informed about the inclusion of their project in the game. The project emulates old Flight Simulator games and can be run in a browser or as a native executable.

Main themes

• MIT license
• open-source software
• commercial use
• Easter eggs
• license compliance
• courtesy and communication

What commenters say

• Using the MIT license means that the author cannot expect to be informed about the use of their project in commercial products.
• Including a copyright notice is a requirement of the MIT license, but it may not be easily accessible to users.
• Some commenters think that it would be courteous for companies to inform authors about the use of their open-source projects, even if it is not required by the license.
• Others argue that large companies do not operate according to human social norms and that license compliance is a binary condition.
• The use of open-source software in commercial products can be detected by automated code scanners.
• The MIT license worked as intended in this case, allowing the company to use the project without restrictions.
• Some commenters question whether the game data used in the project is actually licensed under MIT, as it may still be under copyright and proprietary licenses.