Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: Forming Gentoo Policy - Copyright Assignment and Attribution

[Rich Freeman <rich0@gentoo.org>]

On Tue, Mar 12, 2013 at 3:12 AM, Andreas K. Huettel
<dilfridge@gentoo.org> wrote:
> Am Dienstag, 12. März 2013, 00:12:43 schrieb Rich Freeman:
>> So, clarification now that I'm back at a keyboard...
>>
>> DCO is mandatory, and is simply a declaration that the committer has
>> checked and the new code is distributed under the license chosen for
>> the project (see original email for details, but generally
>> GPL/BSD/etc).  The Linux kernel is the main model for this.  Since
>> Gentoo is not always being assigned copyright we need to have a clear
>> declaration that the code is available under a suitable free license
>> so that we can further distribute it.
>>
>> FLA is optional, and is essentially a copyright assignment (or
>> reasonable facsimile in certain jurisdictions designed by the FSFe).
>> KDE is the main model for this.
>
> Which obviously means, now if everyone signs a KDE with GPL'ed key and sends
> it with SPF to TGF (The Gentoo Foundation), everything is IPO. (In Perfect
> Order.)
>
> Seriously, could you repeat this for laymen and non-americans?

Well, the full description is in the original email, but:

DCO = Developer Certificate of Origin.  For an example see [1]
starting at line 309.  This is just a declaration that the
authorship/license/etc is accurate/compatible/etc.  As mentioned
previously, signing this is mandatory, and we'll try to streamline it
as is done on other projects like Linux (again, see [1]).

GPL = GNU Public License
GNU = GNU's Not Unix
BSD = Berkeley Software Distribution License
Linux = A little-known OS kernel
Gentoo = An OS distribution you might have heard of

FLA = Fiduciary License Agreement.  This is essentially similar to a
copyright assignment, but it is designed to be legal in jurisdictions
that do not permit copyright assignment (such as Germany).  For an
example see [2].  As mentioned, signing this is optional, and it would
be signed electronically as well.

KDE = K Desktop Environment.
K = See [3], or better still the unabridged OED.
OED = Oxford English Dictionary.  Before there was emerge
--quiet-build n there was the OED.

But yes, you can be forgiven for not caring about much of this stuff.  :)

Rich

1 - http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/Documentation/SubmittingPatches

2 - http://ev.kde.org/rules/fla.php

3 - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/K