[Python-Dev] Licensing

[Nick Coghlan]

On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 7:05 AM, Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote:
> Asking contributors to give written licenses in addition to the license
> implicit in the act of contribution is an act of distrust. It says something
> like "We worry that you might change you mind and sue, and a court might not
> immediately toss the suit." So it should not surprise if the occasional
> person reacts with overt hurt and distrust.

The other (IMO, more important) element to it is that it acts as an
assertion that the developer actually *has* the rights to contribute
the code they're contributing. So, rather than being worried about
someone changing their mind about their contributions (although that's
admittedly part of it), we're more concerned that contributors
actually think about who owns the copyright on the code they're
offering and make sure the appropriate permissions are in place.

For example, if you look at some of the code that even Guido has
submitted (e.g. pgen2), that's actually come in under Google's
contributor agreement, rather than Guido's personal one. Presumably
that was work he did on company time, so the copyright actually rests
with Google rather than Guido.

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia