Re: [Emacs-diffs] Changes to emacs/lisp/ChangeLog.7,v

[Chong Yidong <cyd@stupidchicken.com>]

"Juanma Barranquero" <lekktu@gmail.com> writes:

>> -1998-06-03  Kevin Rodgers  <kevinr@ihs.com>
>> +1998-06-03  Kevin Rodgers  <kevinr@ihs.com> (tiny change)
>
> What's the point of these changes? Kevin Rodgers appears 30 times in
> lisp/ChangeLog*, src/ChangeLog* and etc/ChangeLog. Even if every one
> of them is tiny, the total surely surpasses the amount of code allowed
> without signing papers, doesn't it? Or am I missing something?

The situation is this: Kevin Rodgers has only signed papers for vc and
ps-print, and RMS hasn't been able to get into contact with him.

The changes I made were for keeping track of which of the changes he
made are tiny, so we can tell where the situation stands.  The tiny
changes, I think, are OK: my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong)
is that thirty or so tiny changes is pushing the limits for requiring
papers, but still acceptable.

The main trouble, as it turns out, is a handful of non-trivial changes
he contributed to compile.el nearly ten years ago (in ChangeLog.5 and
ChangeLog.7).  Reverting these will be all but impossible.

I don't know how this can be resolved.  Under these circumstances, I'd
suggest relaxing the usual policy of strictly requiring copyright
assignments; the chance of any legal difficulty arising from his
contributions is surely vanishingly small.