[GRASS-PSC] Re: [GRASS-user] GNU GPL version 3 and Grass code

[Michael Barton]

This sounds eminently reasonable--especially given all the flap over GPL3.
Maybe it will all be a non-issue, but we don't have to be the ones to test
this.

Michael


On 7/2/07 10:50 PM, "Hamish" <hamish_nospam at yahoo.com> wrote:

>> Eric Patton wrote:
>> With the GNU GPL version 3 scheduled to be released tomorrow,
>> are there are plans on adopting this license for Grass?
> 
> my 2c:
> Sit on it for 6 months - a year (or two!) after release and see how the
> dust settles before seriously raising the issue. Do not accept GPL2-
> incompatible code until such time as that decision is made.
> (aka don't be the guinea pig; keep the licensing terms clear & crisp)
> 
> 
> Eric:
>>> Is copyright on GRASS code held by individual authors?
> 
> Markus:
>> In general yes.
>> 
>>> Or is the copyright transferred to the GRASS project itself
>>> when code is submitted?
>> 
>> No. We don't have copyright transfer. This was discussed a lot
>> last year in terms of an OSGeo contribution agreement.
> 
> It is suggested that co-copyright be granted to "The GRASS Development
> Team", but as Frank pointed out that only exists as a moral entity, not
> a legal one, so the issue is still open. Joining OSGeo means that
> forming a legal non-profit GRASS Foundation (or OGCv2) for that is
> mostly a redundant exercise, but there are reservations with handing GDT
> copyright over to OSGeo wholesale (ie in the hands of folks who are
> outside of the grass community [if only slightly]).
> 
>  
>>> Or, to put it another way, does adopting a different liscence
>>> require the concent of every single contributor, or merely
>>> a decision by the project steering committee?
>> 
>> As far as I understand it, it requires the concent of every
>> single contributor *if* the new license is not compliant
>> with GPL. Note that most (all?) code contains GPL >= V2.
> 
> And that GPL3 is not retroactive to already released versions.
> 
> 
> Hamish
> 
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__________________________________________
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
Director of Graduate Studies
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity
Arizona State University

phone: 480-965-6213
fax: 480-965-7671
www: http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton