Re: the beginning of GENTOO going closed source?

From: Bob Tennent (BobT_at_cs.queensu.ca)
Date: 12/31/03 

Date: 31 Dec 2003 15:44:14 GMT

On 31 Dec 2003 04:14:26 -0800, cheese66666 wrote:
> http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/devrel/copyright-assignment.xml
>
>|
>| Our code repository also contains many build scripts called
>| "ebuilds." [..] ebuilds contain the knowledge necessary to build
>| this operating system, the operating system itself is composed of
>| freely-available parts [..] It's important for our community to be
>| able to protect against misuse of our code. The best way to do this
>| is to, as much as reasonably possible, assign copyrights of all
>| contributed code to a single entity. [..]
>|
>|||
>||| we require all individual contributors to Gentoo to assign copyright
>||| for their contributed works to Gentoo Technlogies, Inc. by signing
>||| a copyright assignment agreement.
>|||
>
> What's that all about?

Open source doesn't mean not copyrighted. GPLed programs are copyrighted
but the license allows distribution under specific conditions. What they
are doing in ensuring that the copyright owner is an entity with the
resources to contest a copyright infringement suit if necessary. This
is not the same as "going closed source".

Bob T.

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