[Bb-trac] Re: [bbPress] #642: GPL license file and doc headers

[bbPress]

#642: GPL license file and doc headers
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 Reporter:  sambauers              |        Owner:  sambauers
     Type:  task                   |       Status:  assigned 
 Priority:  normal                 |    Milestone:  1.0      
Component:  Back-end               |      Version:  0.8.1    
 Severity:  major                  |   Resolution:           
 Keywords:  gpl license has-patch  |  
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Comment (by sambauers):

 Replying to [comment:5 mdawaffe]:
 > Having a root license.txt or COPYING file is good enough; I don't think
 we need to have a header for every file: just those outside ones like
 external JS etc.

 The advice from the FSF is to include the notice in every source file.
 That's being pretty strict about it, but I guess the intent is to protect
 each piece of code even when it is in isolation from the code base. They
 approach it from a "letter or the law" angle (i.e. closing loopholes),
 whereas we tend to think of the "spirit" of the law. The headers may seem
 onerous, but they can be useful too. The only seemingly repetitive
 information is the license part, and that is offering value legally.

 Don't underestimate how important this is to some developers. I for one
 want to know that my contributions are protected. A robust implementation
 of the GPL can help offer that. Having said that, I won't stop
 contributing if you don't want to add headers.

 > COPYING is standard according to sambauers (whom I trust :) ), but
 license.txt might make more sense to "normal" people.  I have no idea.

 Well, COPYING is the ''suggested'' name. If you are intent not to add
 headers to every file, then perhaps we should call it LICENSE and then the
 COPYING file should be the copyright notice like so:

 {{{
 bbPress

 Copyright (C) 2006 <contributor name>
 Copyright (C) 2006 <contributor name>
 Copyright (C) 2007 <contributor name>
 Copyright (C) 2007 <contributor name>
 Copyright (C) 2007 <contributor name>

 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 (at your option) any later version.

 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 GNU General Public License for more details.

 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 }}}

 > I do not believe the copyright is held by Automattic but rather is held
 jointly by everyone who has ever contributed code.

 True, but in lieu of knowing the actual names of who committed each file
 and revision I thought it best to fall back on some ownership notice
 rather than none. More copyright lines can be added too, we aren't limited
 to one. Replacing that line later should have no implications.

 p.s. First bit of random noise about this on the forum:
 http://bbpress.org/forums/topic/1102

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Ticket URL: <http://trac.bbpress.org/ticket/642#comment:6>
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