> >> However, bundling them all up into big patches would probably run over the
> >> size limit for "small patches that don't require paperwork".
On 12 April 2007 16:31, Paul Brook wrote:
>> The size limit for non-copyrightable changes is accumulative. ie. it applies
>> the same whether changes are submitted one by one or all at once.
On Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 04:35:22PM +0100, Dave Korn wrote:
> :) Over what period is it cumulative? Does that mean that if you
> submit an 8 line patch, that twenty years later you can't submit a 3
> line patch without paperwork?
It's not the elapsed time.
There's a difference between separate, unrelated patches, and using
a whole lot of small patches as a mechanism to send one large patch.
The reason the FSF is OK with small patches without assignments is
that they believe they are protected under fair use, but if someone
sends 20 little pieces of something that is clearly the same large
change, then the law treats that the same as if it had been sent in one
chunk.
As Robert is no doubt tempted to point out, there's nothing in the law
that says "10 lines is fair use, 11 is not". It's really a matter of
what Eben Moglen feels comfortable defending in court.
