Re: [PATCH/RFC] Replace Free Software Foundation address in license notices

[Todd Zullinger]

Junio C Hamano wrote:
This change probably makes sense.  From here on after applying the 
patch, we won't have to worry about updating these every time they 
move---not that they have moved often, though ;-)


Indeed.  It's thankfully a rare move.  I imagine that's why it's 
somewhat common to find license text with the previous address long 
after the last move.  (That and how boring licensing details are, in 
general.)


 compat/obstack.c| 5 ++--- 
 ... 
 ewah/ewok_rlw.h | 3 +-- 
 git-gui/git-gui.sh  | 3 +-- 
 imap-send.c | 3 +-- 
 ... 
 44 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 103 deletions(-)


I've tried hard to keep the git-gui/ part as a separate project (it 
indeed is managed separately).  I have been, and am still only 
pulling from its "upstream" repository (Pat, who is its project 
lead, Cc'ed), refaining from making changes that do not exist there 
at git://repo.or.cz/git-gui.git/ to the tree I publish.


I'll separate the part from this patch that touches git-gui/* and 
try to arrange the next pull from git-gui repository would have the 
omitted part somehow.  Given that the "upstream" seems to be inactive 
these days, we might want to change the way we manage that part of 
the tree, though.


D'oh, I should have known that.  Thanks for splitting this up.  I was 
worried more minor things like legal details or changing code that we 
synced from another project (compat/regex or xdiff) might require some 
changes and didn't think enough about git-gui being separate.



Thanks.


Thank you too.  It's always impressive to see how well you wear the 
maintainer hat. :)


--
Todd
~~
A common mistake people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete
fools.
   -- Douglas Adams

Re: [PATCH/RFC] Replace Free Software Foundation address in license notices

[Junio C Hamano]

Todd Zullinger  writes:

> The mailing address for the FSF has changed over the years.  Rather than
> updating the address across all files, refer readers to gnu.org, as the
> GNU GPL documentation now suggests for license notices.  The mailing
> address is retained in the full license files (COPYING and LGPL-2.1).
>
> The old address is still present in t/diff-lib/COPYING.  This is
> intentional, as the file is used in tests and the contents are not
> expected to change.
>
> Signed-off-by: Todd Zullinger 
> ---

This change probably makes sense.  From here on after applying the
patch, we won't have to worry about updating these every time they
move---not that they have moved often, though ;-)

>  compat/obstack.c| 5 ++---
>  ...
>  ewah/ewok_rlw.h | 3 +--
>  git-gui/git-gui.sh  | 3 +--
>  imap-send.c | 3 +--
>  ...
>  44 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 103 deletions(-)

I've tried hard to keep the git-gui/ part as a separate project (it
indeed is managed separately).  I have been, and am still only
pulling from its "upstream" repository (Pat, who is its project
lead, Cc'ed), refaining from making changes that do not exist there
at git://repo.or.cz/git-gui.git/ to the tree I publish.

I'll separate the part from this patch that touches git-gui/* and
try to arrange the next pull from git-gui repository would have the
omitted part somehow.  Given that the "upstream" seems to be inactive
these days, we might want to change the way we manage that part of
the tree, though.

Thanks.

[PATCH/RFC] Replace Free Software Foundation address in license notices

[Todd Zullinger]

The mailing address for the FSF has changed over the years.  Rather than
updating the address across all files, refer readers to gnu.org, as the
GNU GPL documentation now suggests for license notices.  The mailing
address is retained in the full license files (COPYING and LGPL-2.1).

The old address is still present in t/diff-lib/COPYING.  This is
intentional, as the file is used in tests and the contents are not
expected to change.

Signed-off-by: Todd Zullinger 
---

As further rationale for this change, the package lint checks in Fedora (and
other distributions) look for installed files which contain references to
outdated Free Software Foundation mailing addresses.  (This occurs mostly for
interpreted scripts in the installation.)

In the interest of ensuring that end-users who may read such files and scripts
and wish to contact the FSF for a copy of the license file, having a correct
address is useful.  Of course, changing piles of files anytime an address
changes is a bit of relatively useless churn.

Using the license notice template from the current GPL instructions¹ should
make this change easier, as it uses a URL which ought to be more stable than a
postal address.  And, of course, both the git project and distributors of
binary packages like Fedora ship the full COPYING file(s) with the respective
tarballs/packages.

While the Fedora package lint checks don't see or care about the old address in
source files which will be compiled before installation, it seems best to be
consistent.  If that's not generally agreeable, I can submit a version of this
patch which only touches files which are installed as-is and contain the old
FSF mailing address.

¹ https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-howto.html

 compat/obstack.c| 5 ++---
 compat/obstack.h| 5 ++---
 compat/poll/poll.c  | 3 +--
 compat/poll/poll.h  | 3 +--
 compat/regex/regcomp.c  | 5 ++---
 compat/regex/regex.c| 5 ++---
 compat/regex/regex.h| 5 ++---
 compat/regex/regex_internal.c   | 5 ++---
 compat/regex/regex_internal.h   | 5 ++---
 compat/regex/regexec.c  | 5 ++---
 contrib/completion/git-completion.bash  | 3 +--
 contrib/credential/gnome-keyring/git-credential-gnome-keyring.c | 3 +--
 contrib/credential/libsecret/git-credential-libsecret.c | 3 +--
 contrib/emacs/git-blame.el  | 5 ++---
 contrib/emacs/git.el| 5 ++---
 contrib/fast-import/import-directories.perl | 3 +--
 contrib/hg-to-git/hg-to-git.py  | 3 +--
 ewah/bitmap.c   | 3 +--
 ewah/ewah_bitmap.c  | 3 +--
 ewah/ewah_io.c  | 3 +--
 ewah/ewah_rlw.c | 3 +--
 ewah/ewok.h | 3 +--
 ewah/ewok_rlw.h | 3 +--
 git-gui/git-gui.sh  | 3 +--
 imap-send.c | 3 +--
 kwset.c | 4 +---
 kwset.h | 4 +---
 sh-i18n--envsubst.c | 6 ++
 t/t9114-git-svn-dcommit-merge.sh| 4 +---
 trace.c | 3 +--
 xdiff/xdiff.h   | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xdiffi.c  | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xdiffi.h  | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xemit.c   | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xemit.h   | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xinclude.h| 4 ++--
 xdiff/xmacros.h | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xmerge.c  | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xpatience.c   | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xprepare.c| 4 ++--
 xdiff/xprepare.h| 4 ++--
 xdiff/xtypes.h  | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xutils.c  | 4 ++--
 xdiff/xutils.h  | 4