One of the changes associated with moving source code for WSJT and
related programs from SVN to Git is a change in policy regarding
development code and the frequency of "commits" to the public repository.
Code development now takes place in limited-access git repositories.
New code is made publicly available when we consider it stable; we then
do a "push" to the relevant Git repository on SourceForge. These events
will be less frequent than our commits to SVN have been in the past.
There are several reasons why this policy change is necessary and
desirable. One is to prevent wasted time caused by people carelessly
using development code on the air before new developments are finished
and tested. Some users have even distributed untested, unauthorized
program builds that contain significant errors -- which only compounds
the problem.
A more serious issue has been the appearance of our ideas, algorithms,
protocols, GUI features, and source code in "copycat software" even
before we have frozen the design and released the new ideas in our own
software. We are very much in favor of cooperative development of
open-source code, with a bi-directional exchange of ideas. We believe
this model fits very well into the cooperative nature of the Amateur
Radio hobby. We are not favorably disposed to a one-way flow of ideas:
in particular, to separate efforts that "take" liberally, but do not
"gave back" at all.
WSJT-X and its sister programs remain open-source software. Our
released General Availability (GA) program versions are licensed under
version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3). Full source code
for these versions is always publicly available.
Development code, or "work in progress", is shared among those working
on it and contributing to it. In general such code is not made publicly
available until design parameters are frozen and thorough testing has
been done, and new code is merged into the Git "master" branch.
-- 73, Joe, K1JT
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