Re: NonGNU ELPA (was: Re: Fwd: How do I go about debugging my Elisp code?)

[Jean Louis <bugs@gnu.support>]

* Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor <help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> [2022-01-18 03:11]:
> > ;; Copyright (C) 2021 by Emanuel Berg (incal) <moasenwood@zoho.eu>
> 
> Yeah, but you don't need that, just the licence, right?

You need it. It should be known who has copyrights assigned, who is
author, and by which license it is published.

> I can add a Change Log when there are changes, if they are big
> but I don't think that'll happen. Besides should you really
> hard-code that, isn't that what you have repositories, VCSs,
> etc, for?

From: (info "(elisp) Library Headers")

‘;;; Change Log:’
     This begins an optional log of changes to the file over time.
     Don’t put too much information in this section—it is better to keep
     the detailed logs in a version control system (as Emacs does) or in
     a separate ‘ChangeLog’ file.  ‘History’ is an alternative to
     ‘Change Log’.

> > ;; This file is not part of GNU Emacs.
> >
> > ;; This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or
> > ;; modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
> > ;; published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
> > ;; License, or (at your option) any later version.
> > ;;
> > ;; This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
> > ;; WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
> > ;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
> > ;; General Public License for more details.
> > ;;
> > ;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
> > ;; along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
> 
> Again is this an Emacs convention or is it mandatory for
> the license?

"This file is part or not part of GNU Emacs" is convention.

C-h C-c shall tell you how to apply the license.

            How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs

  If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.

  To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
state the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.

    <one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.>
    Copyright (C) <year>  <name of author>

    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.

  If the program does terminal interaction, make it output a short
notice like this when it starts in an interactive mode:

    <program>  Copyright (C) <year>  <name of author>
    This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'.
    This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
    under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.

The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the appropriate
parts of the General Public License.  Of course, your program's commands
might be different; for a GUI interface, you would use an "about box".

  You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or school,
if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if necessary.
For more information on this, and how to apply and follow the GNU GPL, see
<https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

That above does not tell you must do it that way. But think about it,
you did not put copy of the license with the file. Did you? 

So I get the file and give it to somebody else, that person, with the
header you have where license reference and information about no
warranty is missing -- could eventually sue and cause troubles because
license was not known and not clearly referenced. A tag like GPL3+ is
simply not enough. Don't assume people who receive the program are
supposed to know what the tag "GPL3+" means. You cannot even assume
that all people have Internet available like you have it. Thus license
should be given along the program, see:

  4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.

  You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you
receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice;
keep intact all notices stating that this License and any
non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code;
keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all
recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.

  You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey,
and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.

Emacs is shipped with the license built-in. Rigth? Tag alone is not
enough. 

What if you find a single file in a whole program. Maybe license was
included in the package, but now single file goes individually
somewhere else. In that case a reference to license would be lost
unless it is in the headers.

Best way to foster free software with legal notices is already laid
out in the GNU GPL 3+ and previous versions.

> If it is needed to put the code somewhere (anywhere), I'll be
> happy to add it, of course, otherwise I think it is just bulky
> and doesn't contribute anything interesting. My code should be
> fit for a particular purpose! Still, it's OK to put it like
> that, it doesn't change the quality of the code. Mere words ...

Legality is important. If there is claim to be "fit for particular
purpose" could bring you as author in liabilities. 


-- 
Jean

Take action in Free Software Foundation campaigns:
https://www.fsf.org/campaigns

In support of Richard M. Stallman
https://stallmansupport.org/