[fusion-dev] contributors agreements ??

[Alan Boudreault]

+1! I agree also with this less rigid model.

Alan

Jason Fournier wrote:
> I agree with Daniel's assessment - a formal yet less rigid agreement is
> preferable so long as it allows us to meet the standards expected by OSGeo
> for code provenance and does not discourage contributions from the
> community. 
>
> Jason
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fusion-dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
> [mailto:fusion-dev-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Morissette
> Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:53 AM
> To: fusion-dev at lists.osgeo.org
> Subject: Re: [fusion-dev] contributors agreements ??
>
> Hi Paul,
>
> It's a great idea to solve these questions now while the project is 
> still young.
>
> I think my preference would be for something less rigid than what 
> OpenLayers has, but a bit more formal than the current MapServer 
> situation (which might change eventually). I'd probably go with a 
> scenario where committers are required to sign a committer agreement 
> (either on paper or electronically), and they take responsibility for 
> all code that they commit, including small patches contributed by 
> non-committers if they feel that they are appropriate and after they 
> have received confirmation from the contributor that the code is clean 
> and safe to include in the software (this should be one of their 
> responsibilities in the committer agreement). The inclusion of large 
> patches from non-committers could also be facilitated by the 
> non-committer signing some kind of contributor agreement that would be 
> the same as the committer agreement without the commit 
> right/responsibilities part.
>
> That's my preference based on my experience with other projects, but I 
> think we'd be fine with anything as long as we have something in place 
> to protect the project and that it's not too rigid to avoid creating a 
> barrier to small contributions.
>
> Daniel
>
> P.S. Perhaps the Fusion PSC could be formalized first (or was that done 
> already, I forget?), and then solving this would be the PSC's first job.
>
>
> Paul Spencer wrote:
>   
>> Given that one of our goals is eventual incubation into OSGeo, I would 
>> like to be well prepared for the incubation process.  The most difficult 
>> part of that process for existing projects seems to be the code 
>> provenance review (where did all the code come from and do you clearly 
>> have the right to include it in your project).
>>
>> At this point in time, all the code in Fusion is copyright either DM 
>> Solutions Group or MapGears (thanks Alan!).  As we are starting to get 
>> more traffic on the lists, it is conceivable that we will start getting 
>> bug fixes, patches, and new features contributed from outside DM 
>> Solutions Group.  I would like to encourage this as much as possible, 
>> while maintaining clear entitlement to use the code that is contributed.
>>
>> There are two models in use right now in the projects that I am involved 
>> in.
>>
>> One is to require a signed contributors agreement for anyone that 
>> submits code (committer or not).  Patches, features etc coming from 
>> anyone who has not signed a contributors agreement are not included.  
>> OpenLayers uses this model.
>>
>> The other is to have a committers agreement, whereby committers take 
>> responsibility for the code they are committing to the repository.  They 
>> can accept user contributions and commit them if they feel the 
>> contribution is sound.  MapServer uses this model.
>>
>> On the other axis is whether or not to require a signed agreement 
>> (OpenLayers) or just an acknowledgement of the agreement (MapServer).
>>
>> I'm open on both issues, I would like to get feedback from the (now 
>> growing) community of developers.  But I would like to put something in 
>> place before we start getting a lot of contributions so we can prevent 
>> some of the leg work required for incubation.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> __________________________________________
>>
>>    Paul Spencer
>>    Chief Technology Officer
>>    DM Solutions Group Inc
>>    http://www.dmsolutions.ca/
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> fusion-dev mailing list
>> fusion-dev at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/fusion-dev
>>     
>
>
>   


-- 
Alan Boudreault
Mapgears
http://www.mapgears.com