On 02/10/2015 08:12 PM, Junio C Hamano wrote: > Stefan Beller <sbel...@google.com> writes: > >> On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 8:14 AM, Michael Haggerty <mhag...@alum.mit.edu> >> wrote: >> >>> +# Copyright (c) 2014 Michael Haggerty <mhag...@alum.mit.edu> >> >> What is the projects stance on copyright lines? > > I do not think we have a strong one. > >> I've seen files (most of them from the beginning) having some copyright >> lines, >> other files (often introduced way later) not having them, "because >> we're git and have >> history, so we know who did it". > > I personally agree with that statement. Also, a copyright notice > per file is often added when a new file is added, but that ends up > giving false sense of "ownership" to everybody else down the line > even after the file has been extensively modified. It's not like > Michael solely owns all lines in this file in later versions. And > even if people added their name at the top every time they make any > change, their names tend to stay even when their contributions are > later completely rewritten or removed. > > In a sense, my agreement with your statement is stronger than "Yes, > Git can tell us who did what anyway". What we can find in the > history is the sole source of truth, and in-file copyright notice is > misleading. You do not even have to have one in the Berne signatory > nations anyway.
I only put a copyright notice there because I thought it was standard practice. I think it is ugly and would rather do without it, even aside from the practical problems that Junio mentioned. On the other hand, there's this [1] and this [2] from the FSF, which recommend a copyright blurb at the beginning of every source file. Though actually the recommendation is to include a GPL blurb too, not just a naked copyright line like I used. But I get the feeling that the FSF's recommendation is more for ideological than for legal reasons. If I don't hear anything else, I'll delete the copyright line in the reroll. >> The tests themselves look fine. >> >> Is there a reason you did not append the tests in 7509 ? > > Hmph. I don't know what "Hmph" means in this context. The description for t7509 is "git commit --reset-author", which doesn't seem to describe the new tests. There are also t7500 "git commit / Tests for selected commit options" t7501 "git commit" t7502 "git commit porcelain-ish" I suppose the new tests could go in any of these. But since the tests are thematically a bit unusual (dealing with races rather than testing command-line options) and they start with an orphan commit, I thought it would be just as easy to put them in their own file to make it clear that they are independent. I really don't care either way. Michael [1] http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-howto.html [2] http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#NoticeInSourceFile -- Michael Haggerty mhag...@alum.mit.edu -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majord...@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html