Re: Removing in-source contribution records contributer

Alejandro Colomar
2025-05-09T19:07:51Z

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Hi Dave,

On Fri, May 09, 2025 at 08:49:39PM +0200, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> Hi Dave,
>
> On Fri, May 09, 2025 at 04:43:36PM +0100, Dave Martin wrote:
> > > > Should the one-line replacement statement in each file refer back to
> > > > the CREDITS file?
> > >
> > > I prefer not, because then someone can copy the files to a different
> > > repository, without needing to modify the notices (they might take the
> > > CREDITS file as CREDITS_Linux-man-pages).
> >
> > Fair enough, though would it make sense for the boilerplate line to at
> > least become
> >
> > # Copyright, The authors of the Linux man-pages project
> >
> > ...?
> >
> > This remains meaningful out of context, but when shipped with the
> > original tree this wording macthes up with the naming of the AUTHORS
> > file (assuming that's what the file is called).
>
> Hmmmm. I see the point. That sounds very reasonable. Contributors
> sounded more like inclusive of anyone who passes by and writes a few
> lines, as opposed to authors which are usually considered only the long-
> term ones. But since we would list all of them as AUTHORS, they're
> clearly included. So, I'm going to do that change.
>
> > > > Renaming the CREDITS file to AUTHORS and/or clarifying this in a brief
> > > > top-level LICENSE / COPYING file might make the meaning clearer?
> > >
> > > Yes, now that I discarded the idea of crediting *all* contributors, I
> > > agree this file should be renamed to AUTHORS. Regarding a file solely
> > > to clarify that the AUTHORS file holds the copyright holders of the
> > > project, I guess by calling it AUTHORS it would already be obvious. I'm
> > > hesitant to add another file for explaining that because the more
> > > uppercase files there are in the root of the repo, the harder it is to
> > > understand their relationship. However, I can add something in the
> > > README, where I already document what each file is.
> >
> > Ack, it's probably fairly obvious what a file called "AUTHORS" means.
> >
> > Just a suggestion, would something like this work in README:
> >
> > + AUTHORS
> > + List of individuals and organizations that have contributed
> > + content to the project.
> > +
>
> Certainly. Thanks!
>
> > This will still be a true description regardless of whether the list
> > is complete or if non page content contributors are included. (There
> > are probably plenty of borderline cases as to whether something counts
> > as a page content contribution or not.)
>
> Yep. For now, I haven't documented it, but I've drawn the line at:
>
> - Had its name either in a copyright notice,
> - or in a source line saying something like "modified by"
> - or was 'Author' in a git commit.
>
> Anyone who meets at least one of those has been included in CREDITS (to
> be renamed to AUTHORS).
>
> Exceptions are authors of code that was taken by this project, but who
> didn't contribute to this project themselves. For example, the regents
> of the University of California wrote pages that have been incorporated
> into this project, but they didn't consciously contribute to this
> project. Thus, I've retained their copyright notices, and didn't add
> them to CREDITS.

I've applied both changes already (currently in my branch):

<https://www.alejandro-colomar.es/src/alx/linux/man-pages/man-pages.git/commit/?h=contrib&id=98c87fcf783f20da7aae8adbe21e1954d9e8f310>
<https://www.alejandro-colomar.es/src/alx/linux/man-pages/man-pages.git/commit/?h=contrib&id=d5218b220e41a1ed031eea6219237fda0a93d9b2>

Cheers,
Alex

>
>
> Cheers,
> Alex
>
> >
> > Cheers
> > ---Dave
> >
>
> --
> <https://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>

--
<https://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>