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From: Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com>
To: emacs-devel@gnu.org
Subject: Re: On Contributing To Emacs
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2021 12:31:31 +1100	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <878rw14k4n.fsf@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <87a6ginx55.fsf@yahoo.com>


Po Lu <luangruo@yahoo.com> writes:

> Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> But first, I think it is important to note that this is *not* clear-cut.
>> Siddhesh Poyarekar made this point on the Glibc mailing list this
>> summer:
>
> To the FSF it seems to be clear cut, because they are relying on the
> advice of their lawyers to hold up in court.  So I don't think we are
> going to do much to change their minds.
>
>> Second, it is also important to note that lawyers have no formal
>> expertise in how free software projects work or should best be
>> managed.  They have no expertise in assessing the significant
>> drawbacks that this brings to a free software project, and how that
>> should be weighed against the legal advantages they perceive (or not)
>> with having a copyright assignment.
>
> How many drawbacks a free software project might get is moot, if it's
> not (or can't be kept) legally free software.  We should not let some
> vague definition of "drawback" or "weight" interfere.

Agree.

In the same way that lawyers don't have formal experience in how free
software projects work, developers don't have formal experience in how
the legal system and courts work. It is illogical to try and argue that
because lawyers don't understand software projects, we should ignore
their advice on legal matters. We should ignore development/coding
advice from lawyers and ignore legal advice from developers and coders!

In fact, I would go so far as to say many developers make very poor
lawyers. Writing code has a lot to do with conciseness, well defined
logic and unambiguous 'laws'. The legal system and courts are very
different. Much comes down to persuasive arguments from experienced
lawyers, legal precedence, background and perceptions of decision makers
(juries, judges, etc) and even current political and social 'norms' at
the time as well as the ability of those involved to understand the
complexities of the issues (which is often very limited, especially when
it comes to fast moving areas of technology).




  reply	other threads:[~2021-12-31  1:31 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 154+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2021-12-28 12:03 On Contributing To Emacs xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-28 12:13 ` Po Lu
2021-12-28 12:35   ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-28 19:02   ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-29  0:37     ` Po Lu
2021-12-29 11:36       ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-29 11:41         ` Po Lu
2021-12-29 12:39           ` Óscar Fuentes
2021-12-29 13:04             ` Po Lu
2021-12-29 13:39               ` Óscar Fuentes
2021-12-29 13:46                 ` Po Lu
2021-12-29 14:06                   ` Óscar Fuentes
2021-12-29 20:19                     ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-30  1:05                       ` Po Lu
2021-12-30 10:12                         ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-30 10:27                           ` Po Lu
2021-12-29 15:16                   ` Dmitry Gutov
2021-12-29 15:45                     ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-29 17:11                       ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-30  1:09                     ` Po Lu
2021-12-30 13:50                       ` Dmitry Gutov
2021-12-30 14:00                         ` Po Lu
2021-12-30 14:50                           ` Dmitry Gutov
2021-12-31  0:45                             ` Po Lu
2021-12-31  0:49                               ` Dmitry Gutov
2021-12-31  1:12                                 ` Po Lu
2021-12-31  1:22                                   ` Dmitry Gutov
2022-01-01  7:07                               ` Sean Whitton
2022-01-01 17:38                                 ` Stefan Monnier
2022-01-01 19:01                                   ` Debian's use of debbugs (was Re: On Contributing To Emacs) Sean Whitton
2022-01-01 21:01                                     ` Stefan Monnier
2021-12-31  4:24                       ` On Contributing To Emacs Richard Stallman
2021-12-31  4:44                         ` Po Lu
2021-12-28 12:53 ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-28 12:57   ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-28 17:21 ` Stefan Monnier
2021-12-29  4:51 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-29 14:41   ` Lars Ingebrigtsen
2021-12-30  0:15     ` Akira Kyle
2021-12-30  6:29       ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-30 10:01         ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-30 10:27         ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-30 10:43           ` Po Lu
2021-12-30 11:20             ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-30 11:35               ` Po Lu
2021-12-31  1:31                 ` Tim Cross [this message]
     [not found]                   ` <87ee5teaty.fsf@dick>
2021-12-31  3:33                     ` Tim Cross
2021-12-31  4:41                       ` Po Lu
2021-12-31  3:41                   ` Po Lu
2021-12-30 11:56               ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-31  4:25               ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-30 12:05             ` Óscar Fuentes
2021-12-30 11:51           ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-30 12:09             ` Stefan Kangas
2022-01-01 20:42           ` Rudolf Adamkovič
2022-01-02  7:01             ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-30 20:17         ` Akira Kyle
2021-12-30 21:01           ` Theodor Thornhill
2021-12-31  0:54             ` Po Lu
2021-12-31  7:37             ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-31  7:17           ` Eli Zaretskii
2022-01-01 20:52             ` Akira Kyle
2021-12-30 21:23       ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-30 23:40         ` Akira Kyle
2021-12-31  4:27           ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-31  4:27           ` Richard Stallman
2022-01-01 21:08             ` Akira Kyle
2022-01-02  7:02               ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-30  4:28     ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-29  5:27 ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-29  6:05   ` Ihor Radchenko
2021-12-29  9:33     ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-29 11:12       ` Ihor Radchenko
2021-12-29 12:24         ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-29 12:58           ` Ihor Radchenko
2021-12-29 13:13       ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-29 13:59         ` Ihor Radchenko
2021-12-29 15:02           ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-29 15:12             ` Lars Ingebrigtsen
2021-12-29 17:00               ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-29 17:13                 ` Christopher Dimech
2021-12-29 20:19                 ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-29 15:48             ` Ihor Radchenko
2021-12-29 17:17               ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-29 23:52   ` Tim Cross
2021-12-30  6:16     ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-30 10:11       ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-30 10:34         ` Stefan Kangas
2022-01-01 20:18           ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2022-01-01 20:50             ` Stefan Kangas
2022-01-02  6:29               ` Eli Zaretskii
  -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2021-12-27 17:55 No Wayman
2021-12-28  4:21 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-26 18:46 Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-26 20:11 ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-27  4:15 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-27 11:02   ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-28  4:21     ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-28  8:41       ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-29  4:51         ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-29 10:18           ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-30  4:28             ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-30  8:17               ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-31  4:26                 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-31 10:28                   ` Philip Kaludercic
2022-01-01  4:46                     ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-25 18:49 xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-25 19:03 ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-25 19:08   ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-25 19:12     ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-25 19:17       ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-25 19:28         ` Óscar Fuentes
2021-12-25 19:44           ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-25 19:57             ` Óscar Fuentes
2021-12-25 20:18     ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-25 20:26       ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-25 21:53         ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-26  6:15           ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-27  4:14           ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-26  6:28         ` Po Lu
2021-12-26  6:56           ` Ihor Radchenko
2021-12-26  7:34             ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-27  4:14               ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-27  5:04                 ` Po Lu
2021-12-26  7:50             ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-26 20:40               ` Rudolf Adamkovič
2021-12-26 21:06                 ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-26 21:33                   ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-27  4:15                     ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-27 10:27                       ` Philip Kaludercic
     [not found]                         ` <E1n23zG-0007jQ-Bz@fencepost.gnu.org>
     [not found]                           ` <878rw5kteb.fsf@posteo.net>
     [not found]                             ` <E1n2QwI-0008I7-Ny@fencepost.gnu.org>
2021-12-29 10:42                               ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-30  4:28                                 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-27 14:13                 ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-27 14:27                   ` Thierry Volpiatto
2021-12-27 14:36                     ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-27 21:27                   ` Rudolf Adamkovič
2021-12-28  3:24                     ` Eli Zaretskii
2021-12-26 15:30             ` Stefan Monnier
2021-12-26 15:29           ` Stefan Monnier
2021-12-26 20:55             ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-26 21:11               ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-26 22:55                 ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-27  4:15                 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-26 21:21               ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-27  4:15                 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-27 10:24                   ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-27 20:16                     ` Stefan Monnier
2021-12-26 21:48               ` Stefan Kangas
2021-12-26 22:11                 ` Stefan Monnier
2021-12-26 22:15                   ` xenodasein--- via Emacs development discussions.
2021-12-27  4:15                 ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-27 10:43                   ` Philip Kaludercic
2021-12-28  4:21                     ` Richard Stallman
2021-12-28  5:05                       ` LdBeth

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