Gregory Nutt wrote on 12/10/23 5:22 PM:
On 12/10/2023 4:05 PM, Shane Curcuru wrote:
I think we have to be careful with the word "contribution". The ASF
cannot accept any contribution that is licensed and copyrighted by
some other entity. To "contribute" the code is to donate the code to
the ASF without retaining any claims to it. Then the code belongs to
the ASF and can be re-licensed as Apache 2.0 with the ASF copyright.
Er, no, that's not how the ASF treats "contributions". In general,
when someone contributes their copyrighted work to an Apache project,
they keep the copyright, and merely license enough rights to the ASF
such that the ASF (through our projects) can then re-ship that
contribution at any point in the future as part of a larger work,
under terms like the Apache-2.0 license.
...[snip]...
That use of the word "contribution" is causing me a little cognitive
dissonance, but I will adapt. Synonyms for "contribution" include
donation, gift, present, grant, etc., most which are not interchangeable
with "contribution" in this context.
"Contribution" is a specific term defined in the Apache-2.0 license, so
when we're using it in reference to someone committing code (or other
things) to an ASF repository, we're using the specific definition there.
https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0#definitions
How does the copyright holder "license enough rights to the ASF"? I
suppose that is via the license that they chose for the work, rather
than through any specific interaction with the ASF?
If the copyright holder is a committer on any ASF project, then they've
already signed the ICLA, which lays out in detail what they agree to
whenever they're checking in code to any ASF repository.
https://www.apache.org/licenses/contributor-agreements.html
So if you're looking for general information, the first step is to read
the license and ICLA in detail, and then ask questions relating to
specific parts therein.
But it feels like we've lost sight of the actual question for the
project, which is something about "is it OK to accept *this* bit of code
in our repository" - or something like that.
If the project is looking for an answer about legal questions, it always
helps to be *very* specific about what you want to do, as in "Is it OK
if so-and-so checks in this file ->, which is under this license -> to
our project in this directory?" or the like.
In general, in terms of code with multiple licenses, one question the
ASF likes to ask is that the copyright owner of the code is explicitly
saying it's available under a permissive license, or is otherwise
helping to commit the code at the ASF. That's not strictly a legal
question, more a policy one: the ASF prefers contributions into our
project repositories that are *willingly* given (and are licensed
appropriately).
I hope that helps more than confuses things!
--
- Shane
Member
The Apache Software Foundation
