Consider migrating from abandoned `license-checker` to `license-checker-evergreen`

[greenstevester]

Hi There,

Big respect for playwright, use it all the time - super useful and a great piece of OSS.

I noticed though, that it uses license-checker for license auditing AND the original package hasn't been updated since January 2019 (over 6 years!) and appears to be abandoned.

I am an OSS lover and fight for it where-ever I can, with the mantra "free software is eating the world" , so.... where am I going with this?

Suggested Alternative

license-checker-evergreen is an actively maintained fork with several improvements:

• Full TypeScript support with included type definitions
• ES Modules native support (not just CommonJS)
• Node.js 18+ optimized for current LTS versions
• Additional output formats: Markdown, Tree view, Plain Vertical
• Active maintenance with regular security updates
• Drop-in replacement - same CLI interface

Migration

The migration is straightforward:

# Before
npm install --save-dev license-checker

# After
npm install --save-dev license-checker-evergreen

Update any scripts from license-checker to license-checker-evergreen.

 Using an unmaintained package for license compliance creates risk:
- No security patches for 6+ years
- No support for newer Node.js versions
- No bug fixes or improvements

Happy to answer any questions about the migration!

---Disclosure: I maintain license-checker-evergreen