From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Robert J. Chassell" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel,gmane.emacs.xemacs.beta Subject: Re: Permission to use portions of the recent GNU Emacs Manual Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:12:37 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: References: <878y84t52h.fsf-monnier+emacs@gnu.org> Reply-To: bob@rattlesnake.com NNTP-Posting-Host: deer.gmane.org X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1103069809 26139 80.91.229.6 (15 Dec 2004 00:16:49 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:16:49 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org, xemacs-beta@xemacs.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Wed Dec 15 01:16:41 2004 Return-path: Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by deer.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 1CeMqO-0001Na-00 for ; Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:16:40 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.33) id 1CeN0Z-0002yZ-1h for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:27:11 -0500 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.33) id 1CeMzU-0002sh-2L for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:26:04 -0500 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.33) id 1CeMzR-0002rt-Sl for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:26:02 -0500 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.33) id 1CeMzQ-0002r0-Ry for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:26:00 -0500 Original-Received: from [69.168.110.189] (helo=rattlesnake.com) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1CeMmi-0004o2-Ik; Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:12:52 -0500 Original-Received: by rattlesnake.com via sendmail from stdin id (Debian Smail3.2.0.115) Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:12:37 +0000 (UTC) Original-To: David Kastrup In-reply-to: (message from David Kastrup on Tue, 14 Dec 2004 23:09:03 +0100) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:31132 gmane.emacs.xemacs.beta:17467 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel:31132 DOC strings and manual entries are material that are frequently copied between those differently licenced items. Now I see what you are saying. The legal question is, when you are basing additions to a Texinfo manual on a large number of doc strings from functions, are the changes you are likely to make big enough so that the manual does not become a derivative work? (Presumably, fair use means the issue is not relevant to a small number of doc strings. And the issue not relevant to additions that are quite different.) I don't know the legal answer. Presuming that neither RMS nor anyone else has thought of this, it becomes necessary to ask some people who understand the laws in all the major countries of concern. That is a major undertaking. My hunch is that a legally valid expectation is that any one's write up will be sufficiently different, simply because he or she is trying to write a document, not a doc string. Put another way, only poorly written documentation would be illegal.... But maybe not. As for ... code snippets ... [which include doc strings] at the end of the node, (emacs)GNU Free Documentation License says If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software. which handles this issue unless you are moving others' code into a Texinfo manual without rewriting it more appropriately for a manual. If my hunch is right, that would be no problem since it would be reasonable to expect you to rewrite it suitably. Otherwise, as far as I can see, you have a reasonable point. -- Robert J. Chassell bob@rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8 http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc