splitter license & copyright
Hi all, To follow up on my previous email regarding licensing of Osmosis portions included in the splitter source, there are a few issues with the splitter source itself too. Almost none of the splitter source files declare the author beside the copyright year. All files only declare the copyright year, except: src/uk/me/parabola/splitter/UnknownFeatureException.java: * Copyright (C) 2011 by the splitter contributors src/uk/me/parabola/splitter/Version.java: * Copyright (C) 2007 Steve Ratcliffe The mkgmap source has this issue too, but to a much lesser extend. Most of those files declare the year and Steve as the author. Based on the svn log of the files which only declare the copyright year, the authors should be as in the attrached splitter-copyright.patch. For each file the the author of the first SVN revision was assumed to also be the author of the source file. This may be false assumption when files are renamed, refactored, or committed by someone else. The svn usernames were mapped to the authors of related emails to the mkgmap-dev list. A second issue with the splitter source files are is that some are lacking a license header, and Version.java being licensed under the GPL-2 only instead of "GPL-2 or GPL-3", or just GPL-3, which is inconsistent with doc/LICENSE.readme that places the code of the project under the GPL-3. The splitter.licenses attachment documents the license for each of the splitter source files. The splitter-license.patch adds the missing license headers using GPL-3 and the copyright year and author based on the svn log like the copyright patch. It has the same caveat as the copyright patch, the first svn committer may not always be the copyright holder of the file in question. The splitter-license.patch also bumps the GPL version from 2 to 3 for Version.java. Using "GPL-2 or GPL-3" like Gerd does for many of his contributions may be more suitable. Because the GPL license headers don't include the "or (at your option) any later version" option, the copyright holders of the unlicensed and GPL-2 licensed files need to agree with relicensing their contributions under the GPL-3. Kind Regards, Bas -- GPG Key ID: 4096R/E88D4AF1 Fingerprint: 8182 DE41 7056 408D 6146 50D1 6750 F10A E88D 4AF1
On 01/09/2015 04:24 PM, Sebastiaan Couwenberg wrote:
The splitter.licenses attachment documents the license for each of the splitter source files.
That one was a little outdated, the attached version makes the correctly lists most GPL-2 files as GPL-2 or GPL-3. Kind Regards, Bas -- GPG Key ID: 4096R/E88D4AF1 Fingerprint: 8182 DE41 7056 408D 6146 50D1 6750 F10A E88D 4AF1
Hi Bas, hi Steve, I must confess that I don't care about the licence as long as I am the author. I'd be happy to hear that someone else can use a copy of my work, also if it is for commercial purposes. If I code an algo that is described somewhere I try to point out the source, and I avoid to copy copyrighted sources as I am not able to understand lawyers speach (neither in English nor in German). I do not want to put my full name into the sources because I don't like to find myself with search engines like Google, so I use GerdP instead. If that is a problem this can be changed, but I'd prefer something like "Copyright (C) 20xx by the splitter contributors" if we have to state a copyright at all. Gerd Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2015 16:24:04 +0100 From: sebastic@xs4all.nl To: mkgmap-dev@lists.mkgmap.org.uk Subject: [mkgmap-dev] splitter license & copyright Hi all, To follow up on my previous email regarding licensing of Osmosis portions included in the splitter source, there are a few issues with the splitter source itself too. Almost none of the splitter source files declare the author beside the copyright year. All files only declare the copyright year, except: src/uk/me/parabola/splitter/UnknownFeatureException.java: * Copyright (C) 2011 by the splitter contributors src/uk/me/parabola/splitter/Version.java: * Copyright (C) 2007 Steve Ratcliffe The mkgmap source has this issue too, but to a much lesser extend. Most of those files declare the year and Steve as the author. Based on the svn log of the files which only declare the copyright year, the authors should be as in the attrached splitter-copyright.patch. For each file the the author of the first SVN revision was assumed to also be the author of the source file. This may be false assumption when files are renamed, refactored, or committed by someone else. The svn usernames were mapped to the authors of related emails to the mkgmap-dev list. A second issue with the splitter source files are is that some are lacking a license header, and Version.java being licensed under the GPL-2 only instead of "GPL-2 or GPL-3", or just GPL-3, which is inconsistent with doc/LICENSE.readme that places the code of the project under the GPL-3. The splitter.licenses attachment documents the license for each of the splitter source files. The splitter-license.patch adds the missing license headers using GPL-3 and the copyright year and author based on the svn log like the copyright patch. It has the same caveat as the copyright patch, the first svn committer may not always be the copyright holder of the file in question. The splitter-license.patch also bumps the GPL version from 2 to 3 for Version.java. Using "GPL-2 or GPL-3" like Gerd does for many of his contributions may be more suitable. Because the GPL license headers don't include the "or (at your option) any later version" option, the copyright holders of the unlicensed and GPL-2 licensed files need to agree with relicensing their contributions under the GPL-3. Kind Regards, Bas -- GPG Key ID: 4096R/E88D4AF1 Fingerprint: 8182 DE41 7056 408D 6146 50D1 6750 F10A E88D 4AF1 _______________________________________________ mkgmap-dev mailing list mkgmap-dev@lists.mkgmap.org.uk http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/mkgmap-dev
Hi Gerd, On 01/10/2015 07:17 AM, Gerd Petermann wrote:
I must confess that I don't care about the licence as long as I am the author. I'd be happy to hear that someone else can use a copy of my work, also if it is for commercial purposes. If I code an algo that is described somewhere I try to point out the source, and I avoid to copy copyrighted sources as I am not able to understand lawyers speach (neither in English nor in German).
While the GPL-3 doesn't prevent commercial use, it allows charging money for the software (distribution), but also requires that any derivative works are licensed under the GPL-3 too. This limits the use of the GPL-3 code in proprietary software, because if it incorporates GPL-3 code it's a derivative work and licensed under the GPL-3 too as soon as it's distributed. As long as you're the sole copyright holder to a source file, you always have the option to license a copy differently for commercial purposes. If you're not the sole copyright holder, the other copyright holders need to consent to a different license.
I do not want to put my full name into the sources because I don't like to find myself with search engines like Google, so I use GerdP instead. If that is a problem this can be changed, but I'd prefer something like "Copyright (C) 20xx by the splitter contributors" if we have to state a copyright at all.
I'm not sure why you don't like to find your Free Software contributions with search engines. While I also prefer to be an invisible force behind the scenes, this is difficult to achieve in Free Software projects that operate out in the open. Consistent use of an alias in all your communications is about the only way to go, as many do in the Tor and wider InfoSec community for example. Assigning your copyright to Steve specifically or the splitter contributors more generally is an option if your don't wish to be named. Although your contributions to mkmap are well known thanks to your list activity. Kind Regards, Bas -- GPG Key ID: 4096R/E88D4AF1 Fingerprint: 8182 DE41 7056 408D 6146 50D1 6750 F10A E88D 4AF1
Hi Bas, okay, I've used your patches and changed a few places where the wrong name or date was used. Do you think that the sources are ok now? Gerd
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 11:36:43 +0100 From: sebastic@xs4all.nl To: mkgmap-dev@lists.mkgmap.org.uk Subject: Re: [mkgmap-dev] splitter license & copyright
Hi Gerd,
On 01/10/2015 07:17 AM, Gerd Petermann wrote:
I must confess that I don't care about the licence as long as I am the author. I'd be happy to hear that someone else can use a copy of my work, also if it is for commercial purposes. If I code an algo that is described somewhere I try to point out the source, and I avoid to copy copyrighted sources as I am not able to understand lawyers speach (neither in English nor in German).
While the GPL-3 doesn't prevent commercial use, it allows charging money for the software (distribution), but also requires that any derivative works are licensed under the GPL-3 too. This limits the use of the GPL-3 code in proprietary software, because if it incorporates GPL-3 code it's a derivative work and licensed under the GPL-3 too as soon as it's distributed.
As long as you're the sole copyright holder to a source file, you always have the option to license a copy differently for commercial purposes. If you're not the sole copyright holder, the other copyright holders need to consent to a different license.
I do not want to put my full name into the sources because I don't like to find myself with search engines like Google, so I use GerdP instead. If that is a problem this can be changed, but I'd prefer something like "Copyright (C) 20xx by the splitter contributors" if we have to state a copyright at all.
I'm not sure why you don't like to find your Free Software contributions with search engines. While I also prefer to be an invisible force behind the scenes, this is difficult to achieve in Free Software projects that operate out in the open. Consistent use of an alias in all your communications is about the only way to go, as many do in the Tor and wider InfoSec community for example.
Assigning your copyright to Steve specifically or the splitter contributors more generally is an option if your don't wish to be named. Although your contributions to mkmap are well known thanks to your list activity.
Kind Regards,
Bas
-- GPG Key ID: 4096R/E88D4AF1 Fingerprint: 8182 DE41 7056 408D 6146 50D1 6750 F10A E88D 4AF1
_______________________________________________ mkgmap-dev mailing list mkgmap-dev@lists.mkgmap.org.uk http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/mkgmap-dev
Hi Gerd, On 01/10/2015 05:03 PM, Gerd Petermann wrote:
okay, I've used your patches and changed a few places where the wrong name or date was used. Do you think that the sources are ok now?
Thanks for your changes, I've updated the copyright file in the Debian package accordingly. The licensecheck run on splitter SVN r420 still reported a couple of test sources with only a copyright year. These files were first committed by chris. The attached patch updates the copyright statements. Kind Regards, Bas -- GPG Key ID: 4096R/E88D4AF1 Fingerprint: 8182 DE41 7056 408D 6146 50D1 6750 F10A E88D 4AF1
participants (2)
-
Gerd Petermann -
Sebastiaan Couwenberg