Hi All, > X-Unix-From: kirillov math sunysb edu Sun Oct 28 21:17:14 2001 <snip attribute=big> > Now to the things I haven't done yet and for which I need > your help: > > 1. Is everyone happy with the way author names and legal info is > presented (please note: copyright info will be probably put in a > separate html file linked to from the word COpyright, as it was > before - this is a stylesheet issue)? In particular, with > merging Authors and License > into one section? And a related thing: do we really need all > this junk about how to get GPL by writing to FSF? Wouldn't it > be sufficient to give a link to ghelp:gpl and for those who > can not read it, say that it is also included in LICENSE file > in the package? > Pat Costello and other SUN people argued for removing this > section altogether; I'd rather leave it. What do other people > think? </snip> Some time ago, the Sun documentation team put forward a suggestion for a separate area for all the boilerplate type information, as Sasha says in his mail snip. As well as improving information accessibility for the user, this approach - essentially a title page - conforms to the GFDL requirements. However, there was an issue about liability and warranty that we needed to clear up. At the moment, all parties who contribute to GNOME documentation are exposed to legal action, due to the absence of such clauses. This is a potentially serious issue. Legal representatives from Sun have just completed discussions with Richard Stallman and with the Free Software Foundation to resolve the license issue. Whereas the FSF recognises the need for the liability and warranty clauses, they do not want to amend the GFDL. They suggest that the liability and warranty clauses accompany each piece of documentation. This requirement creates another benefit for having a title page, because it gives us a suitable place where we can put these essential legal clauses. Another benefit of the title page approach is that all of the purely technical information remaining in the manual is easier for translators to process. A sample of a proposed title page is attached. The legal text for the liability and warranty sections was written by a member of the Sun legal team. The concept of the title page is that a user can open the title page from a Title Page link that appears at the bottom of the manual TOC. Sun has already reworked a number of applet manuals as per the GNOME Style Guide, and we are keen to put our work back into the community, plus translations in nine languages. Now that the license question appears to be close to resolution, Sun is in a position to start releasing that documentation. If the Sun approach to the title page is workable for community usage, then the Sun documentation will be generally usable. Pat
Copyright 2001: Sun Microsystems
Copyright 2000: Dan Mueth
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You can find a copy of the GFDL at this link.
Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and the members of the GNOME Documentation Project are made aware of those trademarks, then the names are in capital letters or initial capital letters.
Manual Version 2.0.
Product Version 1.0.
|
Version |
Developer |
Contact Information |
|
1.0 |
Alexander Muñiz |
munizao xprt net |
|
Version |
Author |
Contact Information |
|
2.0 |
Sun Microsystems |
gnome_docs sun com |
|
1.0 |
Dan Mueth |
d-mueth uchicago edu |
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL YOU, THE INITIAL WRITER, ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY DISTRIBUTOR OF DOCUMENTATION, OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED UNDER THIS LICENSE ON AN "AS IS'' BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE DOCUMENTATION IS FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DOCUMENTATION IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY DOCUMENTATION PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL WRITER OR ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE. NO USE OF ANY DOCUMENTATION IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER.
<<< Previous Home Next >>>