# MIT License

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/mit-license/

7 people recommended MIT License in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 7 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Simple permissive open source license that lets anyone reuse code with few conditions and is widely trusted. Critics say it lacks copyleft and patent protections.

Summary written by Claude from 13 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 11 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Simple, permissive, no strings attached (2 comments in the sample): "The whole pt of the MIT license is that you just take it with no strings attached." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582710)) "MIT is simple, open, and common which is a big benefit for indie projects" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48752292))
- Easy default for projects (2 comments in the sample): "Just publish it with an an easy license (I like MIT" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45872593)) "personally would still choose MIT in general" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46411898))
- Trusted, reliable open source license (2 comments in the sample): "I'll keep releasing works under the MIT until I can no longer in good conscience do so." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47107061)) "MIT is a perfectly fine FOSS license." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46079409))

## What people warn about

- Blamed as careless default choice (2 comments in the sample): "I still can't believe that developers got memed into this being the default license." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47375207)) "People who choose MIT or BSD licenses etm are idiots." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48712838))

## Other open source licenses people recommend

- [GNU Affero General Public License v3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gnu-affero-general-public-license/): 19 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Mozilla Public License](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mozilla-public-license/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "MIT License", https://hackerapproved.com/p/mit-license/ (7 recommend, 2 mixed, 5 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.