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Re: Licensing of modules for libposix


From: Jim Meyering
Subject: Re: Licensing of modules for libposix
Date: Wed, 04 May 2011 11:03:16 +0200

Reuben Thomas wrote:

> On 4 May 2011 09:43, Jim Meyering <address@hidden> wrote:
>>
>> Very few people end up being listed as a gnulib module maintainer
>> if they are not also an author (aka patch contributor).
>>
>> To determine "authorship", you must look at the commit logs:
>>
>>    $ git log --pretty=format:%aN lib/getgroups.c|sort |uniq -c
>>          2 Bruno Haible
>>          9 Eric Blake
>>          9 Jim Meyering
>>          7 Paul Eggert
>>
>> This suggests that you need to update most of your lists.
>
> Not so: only copyright-worthy patches count (as for assignment). So

You must inspect how the file has been modified over the years,
and use your judgment.  If someone has made more than a couple of
non-trivial changes (i.e., not just copyright year updates),
then you might as well get their permission to relicense.
If in doubt -- and you want to take the time to create the minimal list --
read the actual diffs.  Otherwise, just assume that everyone who has
committed a change must grant permission.

> the underlying problem appears to be that copyright holders are not
> listed in the file headers.
> Further, I've signed a copyright assignment for gnulib, so presumably
> it's all copyright the FSF, so why all the canvassing to relicense
> anyway?

Sometimes, an author will object.

> Can't someone speak for the FSF and relicense the code on its
> behalf?

Not as far as I know.



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