Reality bites [Was: Evolution copyright assignment: Storm in a teacup]

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Rui Miguel Seabra">

> Not unrelated. It's there to mislead people into submitting code to
> proprietary software while pretending to be GPL (which wouldn't happen
> otherwise).

Man, I said I would not reply, but this is offensive. You are using a manic
tone in your emails that is not conducive to productive discussion.

Evolution is released under the GPL, and the assignment agreement clearly
states that contibutions made under the agreement will also be released
under OSI-approved licenses (depending on the version of the document you
receive).

Thus, it's very clear that when you contribute to Evolution as an external
developer, you *KNOW* you are contributing to a Free Evolution (you also
know that Novell have the right to do whatever they want with the software,
too).

Contributions under this agreement cannot be "un-Freed", regardless of what
Novell do with their software. We will always have a Free Evolution, we will
always have our contributions available in a Free Evolution.

[ Also, I don't think Novell will change Free licenses, as there would be a
huge amount of social pressure to keep them using the GPL (instead of the
CPL or some other OSI license, if they wanted to change for some reason). ]

In the past, Ximian used their full copyright ownership *only* to distribute
Evolution with the Exchange Connector. But now, it's GPLed, so they are not
actively using their full copyright ownership rights. They have also GPLed
their Groupwise plugin, so they don't need to use any special rights for it.

You've said above that, "it's there to mislead people into submitting code
to proprietary software while pretending to be GPL". The copyright
assignment agreement VERY CLEARLY demonstrates that you are incorrect: When
you make contributions under this agreement, they are released as Free
Software. Ximian's track record is positive: a "proprietary" Evolution does
not exist. They have used full copyright ownership rights in a very limited
fashion. Novell's current stance is also positive: Thus far, they have no
reason to actively use those rights, and they are committed to working with
the GNOME Project to include Evolution in the Desktop release. If their main
interest was a proprietary Evolution, they would not be making the effort
they are now to work within the guidelines of the project, and weathering
the offensive, disappointing and objectionable accusations made by yourself
on these lists.

If you raised your concerns in a diplomatic and polite way, instead of
viciously attacking members of the community (individuals and companies
alike) who contribute so much (and frankly, in stark contrast to your level
of contribution to date, other than flames on this mailing list), you would
not get such a cold reception.

- Jeff

-- 
What's all that about?                           http://www.no-name-yet.com/
 
     "World domination is a community responsibility." - Michael Hall,
                                LinuxPlanet