<snip>
Obviously different open source foundations or forges or projects will
make this determination in different ways. At Apache, the requirement
is described as:
"Using A Wiki To Create Documentation
Podlings may use a wiki to create documentation (including the
website) providing that follow the guidelines. In particular, care
must be taken to ensure that access to the wiki used to create
documentation is restricted to only those with filed CLAs. The PPMC
MUST review all changes and ensure that trust is not abused."
http://incubator.apache.org/guides/sites.html
So documentation is special. And a lot of what I see on the OOo is
documentation, for end users as well as developers. Build
instructions, component architecture overviews, FAQ's, Admin Guides,
etc. These are all forms of project documentation. I don't see how
we avoid limiting write access to those pages.
Remember, the thing that ensures that someone can take an Apache
project and create a new distribution or a new derivative of it, is
the Apache 2,0 license. That ensures that they can take the code, the
documentation, translations, etc., and reuse it. This includes the
documentation.
Rob,
OOo isn't a new project. It's been in continuous development for some
15 years, and has a user population in millions. The active support
community is in hundreds if not thousands. Before we use the letter of
some guideline to abandon a huge body of knowledge and good-faith
contributions perhaps we should seek clarification on the interpretation
of such guidelines by the appropriate Apache authorities?
I agree with you that the documentation that is formally distributed
with the product such as the online documentation must be properly
licensed to be distributed, as does website content which carries the
Apache logo and is "Apache content".
But does this really apply to a community wiki, where some user has
created a HowTo in Russian on using DataPilots in Calc, say. Are you
saying that he will have to sign an iCLA or we delete the content. If
some user spots a typo in the documentation and corrects it in the wiki,
are you saying that we must ignore this unless she signs an iCLA?
I apologise if these seem trivial, but the Community wiki and forums by
nature contain content generated by the community, and there is a true
continuum here. Surely, an end-user product as complex as OOo can only
succeed in a FLOSS world if it embraces rather than rejects a community
support model.
