From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Stephen J. Turnbull" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Copyright/Distribution questions (Emacs/Orgmode) Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:32:31 +0900 Message-ID: <87zjyafnuo.fsf@uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp> References: <87ober717z.fsf@gmail.com> <5970C071-C9AD-4754-BDE7-4AAFA5CF4D33@gmail.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1362983558 2704 80.91.229.3 (11 Mar 2013 06:32:38 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:32:38 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org, Stefan Monnier , Jambunathan K To: Carsten Dominik Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon Mar 11 07:33:02 2013 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1UEwI9-0003B8-OB for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:33:01 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:34504 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1UEwHn-0002rz-EN for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:32:39 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:43524) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1UEwHk-0002rr-5d for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:32:37 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1UEwHj-0002Ut-50 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:32:36 -0400 Original-Received: from mgmt2.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp ([130.158.97.224]:49841) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1UEwHi-0002Ud-M9 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:32:35 -0400 Original-Received: from uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp (uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp [130.158.99.156]) by mgmt2.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp (Postfix) with ESMTP id BC646970900; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:32:31 +0900 (JST) Original-Received: by uwakimon.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp (Postfix, from userid 1000) id 7BA3111F432; Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:32:31 +0900 (JST) In-Reply-To: <5970C071-C9AD-4754-BDE7-4AAFA5CF4D33@gmail.com> X-Mailer: VM undefined under 21.5 (beta32) "habanero" b0d40183ac79 XEmacs Lucid (x86_64-unknown-linux) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6.x X-Received-From: 130.158.97.224 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:157722 Archived-At: Carsten Dominik writes: > If we allow people to reduce functionality of a package that is > already in Emacs by making changes to it, Too late. That's already allowed by the GPL, in fact, it's a fundamental principle of software freedom. > then withdraw the assignment, I think this would create a bad > precedent. Well, the question is whether committing to the org-mode repository *legally* constitutes a contribution to Emacs covered by the "future" assignment. If not, you don't have a choice. If it does, then the assignment can't be withdrawn; the transfer of ownership of a specific copyright is an historical event, not an ongoing contract. As for the practical issue of allowing authors to withdraw code (whether they have a legal right to do so or not), I side with Stefan if it hasn't actually landed in the Emacs mainline yet. It's the old story of "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours forever. If not, it never really was yours." (Of course this applies to the OP with equal force, but that doesn't mean Emacs shouldn't respect it just because he doesn't.) I mean, if this actually creates a *precedent*, then Emacs as a community is dead anyway.[1] Footnotes: [1] Of course this doesn't apply to a case of contribution with *intent* to withdraw. If it really seems like it was done in bad faith, then fight with all the legal resources you have.