[AWS] AWS svn and development process

[Ludovic Brenta]

Thomas Løcke wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 10:26 AM, Ludovic Brenta
> <ludovic at ludovic-brenta.org> wrote:
>> Does AdaCore require assignment of copyright? If not, how can AdaCore
>> ever choose the licensing terms for the contributions, especially in
>> the context of the dual-licensing policy?
>>
>> Also, are there plans to migrate from "GPL v2 or later" to "GPLv3 or
>> later"? or to "GPLv3 only"?
> 
> Hello Ludovic,
> 
> Please excuse me if these questions are completely braindead, but at
> what point does a contribution to a project like AWS warrant a
> separate copyright notice? Is it necessary/required for a 5 line
> patch, if the patch is a bugfix or a minor addition to existing
> functionality?

The GCC web site[1] says: "Small changes can be accepted without a
copyright disclaimer or a copyright assignment on file."  The copyright
assignment is necessary, however, for "significant changes".  I believe
that "significant" means "having creative value"; "small" means corrections
of typos or mechanical changes without intellectual value.

[1] http://gcc.gnu.org/contribute.html

> What if, for example, I added my small cookie package to AWS, and
> wrote the necessary documentation for it. Would the "patch" to the
> documentation require a copyright notice? Or the code for that matter?

If I were the FSF, I would view this as "significant" since there is
authorship (intellectual work) involved.

> And what if the author, in this case me, doesn't care? Could I just
> give the code and documentation to the project, and let Pascal and
> company do what they like with it, or would that put the AWS project
> in a difficult position?

Yes, you can, by means of a copyright assignment.  If you do not assign
your copyright explicitly, then it remains with you, the author.  Or, you
could explicitly place your contributions in the public domain; this would
allow AdaCore to license them under GPL (for libre developers) or GMGPL
(for paying customers).  However, not all jurisdictions allow an author to
place their works in the public domain; I believe Germany is one that
forbids this.

By the way, "not caring" is not an option.  If you "don't care" about the
law, the law does and will care about you!  Also, AdaCore may have a policy
regarding contributions; I hope Pascal or someone else can answer my
initial question and clarify this policy for me.

> All this licensing/copyright stuff is completely new to me, seeing as
> I've mostly coded software used internally in my own business.

You should read the preamble of the GPL and a couple of accompanying
documents such as:

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html

A counter-example is the Linux kernel, where each piece of the software
belongs to its original author.  The consequence of this is that it is
impossible to change the license of Linux; it is and always will be GPL
version 2 only.  Changing the license would require consent from each and
every author.  You can see this as good or bad.

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.