Although I'm not a committer I'd like to comment : I think both of you are right, there is code that is submitted initially fairly complete, and is not patched much afterwards, and if it is patched, it is only small bug fixes. In those cases you would want to keep the @author tags.
On the other hand there is code that is initially submitted as a simple first prototype, and is afterwards greatly enhance by others. In those cases you should remove the @author tags. If it is not exactly mandated by ASF how to deal with, let everyone decide for himself how to handle it, and you don't have to handle every piece of code the same, for some pieces keep your @author tag, for others remove them ? How about that, everybody happy ? regards, Harry 2008/3/31, Janne Jalkanen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > >> Case in point: The author of LuceneSearchProvider has not > >> contributed anything in what, two years? Yet he still stands in > >> as the @author. Would you go to him to ask for help, or should > >> you go to the mailing list? > > > > I'd ask the list, but I would likewise *know* that the author hasn't > > been seen for two years, information that would be lost if the tag had > > been removed. > > > The @author tag does not encode that information. Therefore, nothing > would be lost, if it were removed (and it might probably be a good > idea to remove it at that stage). > > The code should really stand on its own legs. > > > > You're saying you have your name on code you don't understand? > > > Yes. Other people have modified code for which I am still the > @author, and I can't really claim that I know what that code does > anymore... And I'm pretty sure I have modified a lot of the code > that other people claim to be @author of, and they no longer have any > idea what is going on. > > That's how it goes with projects that have been running for nearly > seven years now. > > > /Janne > -- met vriendelijke groet, Harry Metske Telnr. +31-548-512395 Mobile +31-6-51898081
