[Evolution] Contributing to Evolution

[Christine McLellan <christine ximian com>]

Hello Evolution Hackers! 

While this has never been formally announced, Ximian requires contributors to the Evolution code base to assign their copyrights for all non-trivial changes to the code.  This is so we can enforce the copyright in the program as the owner of the entire program, or use a dual license on the code. In other words, we don't have to drag you with us if we go to court to defend the GPL, and we can use a dual license like Mozilla does for commercial purposes.  Copyright transfers are not required for translations, documentation, artwork, or very short or trivial patches.

In exchange for your grant of copyright, we do two things. First, we promise to use the GPL or another Debian-endorsed Free license for your code (although we may also grant other licenses on other terms). Second, we grant back to you as author all your original rights to do what you want with your code, without any fees or restrictions from us. This includes your right to relicense under whatever terms you may desire. 

Details on the copyright assignment and the assignment form can be found at http://developer.ximian.com/evolution/contributing.html.  If you have questions about assigning copyright, please email copyright ximian com.  We want to make this as easy as possible for our contributing community, so please, if something isn't clear, please ask.  

Thank you!

-Christine McLellan
Evolution Product Manager
Ximian, Inc. 
christine ximian com