'Notepad++ For Mac' Release Is Disavowed By the Creator of the Original (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0183127788
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/05/04/232252/notepad-for-mac-release-is-disavowed-by-the-creator-of-the-original
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/unofficial-vibe-coded-notepad-for-mac-draws-objections-from-original-author/
> As its name implies, the venerable [1]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 [2]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 [3]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 [4]claims that the Mac version and its author, Andrey Letov, are " [5]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."
[1] https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
[2] https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/blob/master/SUPPORTED_SYSTEM.md
[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20260429083840/https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/29/notepad-plus-plus-editor-comes-to-mac/
[4] https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/npp-trademark-infringement/
[5] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/unofficial-vibe-coded-notepad-for-mac-draws-objections-from-original-author/
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!"
Re: (Score:2)
Sigh. [1]Here we go again... [xkcd.com]
[1] https://xkcd.com/378/
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:5, 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:1)
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.
Re: (Score:3)
> I don't give a * about a spat over a few hours or days.
You may not, probably because you don't hold any meaningful trademarks.
Trademark in GPU source (Score:4, Interesting)
It strikes me that putting a product name inside source code under GPL license -- which explicitly encourages modification and distribution of source code -- should constitute abandonment of U.S. trademark. However, a California District Court ruled against that logic in [1]Neo4j v. PureThink [justia.com]. It seems GPL needs to explicitly address trademarks, such as right to say "fork of X" -- akin to how it had to address the patent issue.
[1] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/21-16029/21-16029-2022-02-18.html
Re: (Score:3)
Creators of derivative works don't need the right to use the original name, just the code.
Re: (Score:3)
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?
too late (Score:1)
The notion that the GPL can be "updated" has been dead for decades now. GPL 3 came out in 2007 and the transition has been rough to put it mildly. The people with common sense (e.g. Linus Torvalds) didn't allow "or any later version" so even if Zoë Kooyman (who you've totally heard of -- she's the executive director of the FSF currently) decided to issue a GPL 2.0.1 and 3.0.1 to address the trademark issue it would just cause all kinds of churn in the free software space and the trend of moving away fr
Re: (Score:2)
> It strikes me that putting a product name inside source code under GPL license -- which explicitly encourages modification and distribution of source code -- should constitute abandonment of U.S. trademark.
What are you talking about? Putting a name inside code has never caused the trademark to be abandoned. By that logic, IBM lost all trademark rights if they ever release code with their name in it like: "Copyrighted by IBM Corporation"
> However, a California District Court ruled against that logic in Neo4j v. PureThink [justia.com]. It seems GPL needs to explicitly address trademarks, such as right to say "fork of X" -- akin to how it had to address the patent issue.
Your specific filing only shows that a Court of Appeals agreed with the district court on granting a preliminary injunction. It does not shows the court ruling. In fact it specifically states: "This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as p
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?
[1]https://www.pcmag.com/news/chi... [pcmag.com]
(probably not, but it would be funny if it did)
[1] https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinese-hackers-hit-notepad-plus-plus-to-serve-malicious-update
Re: (Score:1)
iMal
Drama, even for something this mundane.... Sad. (Score:3)
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 get sorted out, even if Andrey Letov is only grudgingly renaming the app. Honestly? Best answer here would have been Don Ho doing a Mac port of Notepad++ himself. I mean, why not? It can't be that huge a project, considering it's not an app using 3D accelerated graphics or any of that. Just make an official Mac version and expand your user base.
Re: (Score:2, 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.
Re: Drama, even for something this mundane.... Sad (Score:3)
You donâ(TM)t need to pay Apple anything after youâ(TM)ve acquired the hardware. You donâ(TM)t need to use the Mac Store if you donâ(TM)t want to; apps can be distributed as a download, like before the Mac Store existed.
Re: (Score:3)
> He may not be prepared to purchase a Mac and pay Apple their ongoing fees for development and distribution of Mac applications.
There are no development or distribution fees if not using the Apple store There is a yearly developer license to access Apple developer resources if I remember. A developer can purchase a Mac and develop whatever they want without paying Apple; however, distributing software is much easier to use the Apple ecosystem..
Re: (Score:1)
Macs do not have a "closed ecosystem", what ever that exactly is supposed to mean for you.
The equivalents of "apt get [package]" as in "brew install [package]" work just fine.
Stupid haters ...
Re: (Score:2)
> Best answer here would have been Don Ho doing a Mac port of Notepad++ himself. I mean, why not?
Why not? For one thing, he might not have programmed on the Mac to any significant degree. This could both take more time than expected - and probably worse, result in a lower quality release. Having a "native-feel" is one of the selling points and this does require significant work.
The other thing, a port to another platform is not just one-off work. It implies ongoing maintenance (something a lot of people miss when estimating project costs). This takes away from other work. Maybe his time is better spent
Re: (Score:1)
NotePad++ does not look native on windows.
And people using power tools: do not care about native look - they care about native key bindings. And that menus are where they are supposed to be and a random "save file as" pops up in a logical directory, and not at a random place.
I type this on Chrome on windows. Definitely not native.
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:4, Funny)
Notepad+=1
Wrong Ho? (Score:1)
I thought Don Ho sang "Tiny Bubbles"? When did he become a software developer?
Is there a reason for not accepting? (Score:2)
Is there a reason why Don Ho doesn't like the port?
I can understand him being upset at the misappropriation of his Trademarks, and I think he should protect them. It's all good.
However, is there something wrong with the port? Wouldn't a more 'progressive' option to be to accept the pull request and start advertising MacOS compatibility as part of the main project?
Is it just junk code? Is it too divergent? Does he specifically NOT want ports to other OSes?
(Or maybe it was never offered and Letov won
Re:Is there a reason for not accepting? (Score:4, Informative)
My understanding is that he doesn't object to the porting of the source code, but rather the unauthorized use of his trademark and the misleading association of the port with his work.
The new name is still confusing (Score:3)
There is an existing years-old and actively developed reimplementation of Notepad++ that runs on macOS, called NotepadNext:
[1]https://github.com/dail8859/No... [github.com]
So changing the name from "Notepad++" to "Nextpad++" is now confusing people to think it's related to NotepadNext...
[1] https://github.com/dail8859/NotepadNext
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
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: Takes two to tango (Score:3)
OP made an hominem attack without (as AC said) giving an example.
Re:Takes two to tango (Score:5, Informative)
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)
Don Ho has occasionally used the release notes (opened automatically after installing an update) and the web site to express anti-PRC opinions.
That's called spam, whether or not I or anyone else agrees with it (or not).
Re:Takes two to tango (Score:5, 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: (Score:3)
Given [1]what happened at the end of 2025/ start of 2026 [pcmag.com] it looks as though the PRC overlords struck back.
(I got that link from another comment here)
Of course a non-affiliated Notepad++ could just as easily be carrying any kind of malware from any state-sponsored grouping, has anyone had the chance to look at the source?
[1] https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinese-hackers-hit-notepad-plus-plus-to-serve-malicious-update
Re: Takes two to tango (Score:3)
> 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:3)
May be true, but 100% irrelevant. Trademark infringement claim seems very clear cut to my non-lawyerly eyes.
Re: (Score:3)
And how is that remotely related to the topic where he did not write nor approve Notepad++ for Mac? Basically according to you, he's a bad person so his legitimate complaint that someone is using the trademarked name of his software without permission can be ignored.