Re: Call for volunteers: add tree-sitter support to major modes

[Stefan Monnier]

> I do not understand why only one person is credited if it is a
> collective effort.  Why does Emacs files have author fields, what
> Is their significance, history?

I don't have an official answer to give, but for all the packages to
which I contributed, I've usually seen something like the following
happen:

- Someone write a package.  When they distribute it they naturally put
  "Author:" there with their name and email address (not necessarily
  for fame but rather in order to provide a point of contact for
  feedback).
- Time passes, other people start contributing to it.
- Nobody dares to say that "I'm the author" since that would be a lie,
  so they don't touch the "Author:" line and just either leave their
  name out because they don't care about recognition and feedback, or
  put themselves as "Maintainer:".

So in the end `Author:` all too often means the one who got the original
impetus.  Which fraction of the overall work that turns out to be
depends a lot on the package.  At the same time, in most cases, the
original impetus imposes a general direction/design/approach/vision
which tends to persist long after that author stepped down.


        Stefan