Dear Gabriel,
On 2026-02-09 18:27, Gabriel Wicki wrote:
We should consider cleaning up our codebase somewhat--at least to the
extent where it becomes clear (or can be clarified) for new
contributors
where which part of code belongs. Our package modules seem (in some
places) especially unordered. Ordering them is not such a big issue,
but cleaning up the modules and retaining correct copyright lines is,
indeed. Since I couldn't find it documented and could not find a
satisfying answer through web searches I ask here: are these by-author
copyright lines really needed? For what jurisdiction and what are the
rules to include them? Should we delete them, when for example all
changes by a contributor C are overwritten over time by other
contributions and none of the original committer C are still in place?
Are really the mentioned people the legal copyright holders? And is
writing these lines really the only and best way to ensure their
rights?
Personally, Im not sure anybody pasting the output of Guix performing
the activity counts as copyright.
It would be certainly classed as contribution however.
Similarly, I would consider only the amendments to Guix providing
definitions to be in the copyright domain.
But Im no expert.
Apart from a possible cleanup effort, it is definitively worth
documenting how we handle the issues of ownership and copyright in our
reference manual.
Best wishes
gabber
Jonathan
