Please re-add original author to docs and license
1–10 of 76 posts
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#2Was browsing the Guake issue list for another reason and came across this. I'm genuinely interested to hear what people think of this situation..
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#3On the other hand he hadn't commit anything in last decade and he would get credit for others work
On the other hand he's an author...
mixed feelings, I'd say
Autor: {name} Contributed in years: 2007-2009.
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#4On the other hand he hadn't commit anything in last decade and he would get credit for others work On the other hand he's an author... mixed feelings, I'd say Autor: {name} Contributed in years: 2007-2009.
I think the license says his name should not have been removed in the first place?
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#5On the other hand he hadn't commit anything in last decade and he would get credit for others work On the other hand he's an author... mixed feelings, I'd say Autor: {name} Contributed in years: 2007-2009.
"Original author" sounds more clear. I like how rpcs3 done it with "former authors" block at https://rpcs3.net/about
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#6On the other hand he hadn't commit anything in last decade and he would get credit for others work On the other hand he's an author... mixed feelings, I'd say Autor: {name} Contributed in years: 2007-2009.
That's the usual way of doing it. When a project grows and gains more contributions you can have the AUTHORS file have a list of former major contributors and project founders, current major contributors, and a note acknowledging the dozens of occasional and drive-by contributors (who get full credit for their patches in the revision logs).
His request is not unreasonable at all.
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#7Was browsing the Guake issue list for another reason and came across this. I'm genuinely interested to hear what people think of this situation..
It's pretty clearcut: The GPL requires to keep copyright notices and author's names. They should re-add him and removing names from free software code without the consent of the original author is absolutely not okay.
We may argue that with licenses that allow this (CC0, Unlicense) it would be okay, but even there I'd say credit where credit is due.
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#8Assuming the license hasn't changed, under GPL it was illegal for them to remove the license. Apparently it's still in the "about" window, so maybe that is sufficient for the license, but I'm not sure about removing copyright banners in a bunch of other places...
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#9Credit should always be given where credit is due. I believe this is good etiquette.
This might also be required by the original license.
Re: Please re-add original author to docs and license
#10Well, as far as I can tell, the Authors file was removed completely. In all of the files that I could find that are old enough for him to have contributed to, his copyright notice remains.
In his own branch, the first commit is October 2007 and the vast majority of commits after that are from Lincoln de Sousa. So I don't think anyone was doing anything untoward here. I'm not really familiar with the project, but it doesn't appear to me that he was ever the original author. If anything, it appears as though Lincoln de Sousa did most of the heavy lifting and he was a regular contributor. I could easily be wrong, but that's my impression.
Still, acknowledgement as being an original contributor in the README seems completely reasonable and the issue has 14 thumbs up.