Re: master b341e86 * CONTRIBUTE: Refer to gnulib for request-assign.future.

Re: master b341e86 * CONTRIBUTE: Refer to gnulib for request-assign.future.

[Eli Zaretskii]

I'm not sure we want to make this change in CONTRIBUTE, or whether
it's up to us at all.

First, Gnulib is a separate project.  Did the GNU Project made them
responsible for distributing the official up-to-date version of the
assignment forms?  If so, then pointing to them is okay, I guess.  But
if not, then we just told our contributors to go to yet another place,
unrelated to Emacs, which is one more obstacle, albeit a minor one.
And what if the Gnulib repository or the Git on savannah in general is
down?

Richard, what is the canonical place and procedure to get these forms?
I always take them from fencepost, and assumed the versions there are
the most accurate ones, but maybe that's no longer the preferred place
or procedure?

IMO, a project that requires the assignment papers should be in
control of which forms are sent, and should not refer potential
contributors elsewhere.  But if I'm the only one who thinks that, I
won't insist, of course.

Re: master b341e86 * CONTRIBUTE: Refer to gnulib for request-assign.future.

[Michael Albinus]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> First, Gnulib is a separate project.  Did the GNU Project made them
> responsible for distributing the official up-to-date version of the
> assignment forms?  If so, then pointing to them is okay, I guess.

In <https://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#Copyright-Papers>,
there is

  Once the conversation is under way and the contributor is ready for
  more details, you should send one of the templates that are found in
  the directory /gd/gnuorg/Copyright/; they are also available from the
  doc/Copyright/ directory of the gnulib project at
  https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib.

Best regards, Michael.

Re: master b341e86 * CONTRIBUTE: Refer to gnulib for request-assign.future.

[Glenn Morris]

Eli Zaretskii wrote:

> First, Gnulib is a separate project.  Did the GNU Project made them
> responsible for distributing the official up-to-date version of the
> assignment forms?  If so, then pointing to them is okay, I guess.

request-assign.future hasn't changed in nine years.
As has been said, "Information for Maintainers of GNU Software" lists
Gnulib as a possible place to get the file.
If it ever changes, I trust the Gnulib maintainers to keep their copy
up-to-date. And if someone fills in an old version, assign@gnu can just
ask for more info.

(I don't know why these files aren't simply hosted on a GNU/FSF website.)

> But if not, then we just told our contributors to go to yet another
> place, unrelated to Emacs, which is one more obstacle, albeit a minor one.

I think fetching a web page is less of an obstacle than posting to a
(moderated) mailing list.

> And what if the Gnulib repository or the Git on savannah in general is
> down?

We might as well ask, what if the emacs-devel mailing list is down?
In either case, I trust the FSF/Savannah admins will fix it, as they
have done in the past.
(Also, the Gnulib git repository is mirrored on non-gnu sites.)

(FTR request-assign.future is not the copyright assignment form, it is
the brief pre-form questionnaire one fills out in order to get a form.)

Re: master b341e86 * CONTRIBUTE: Refer to gnulib for request-assign.future.

[Richard Stallman]

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > (I don't know why these files aren't simply hosted on a GNU/FSF website.)

I will propose to do that.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)