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Posted to dev@clerezza.apache.org by Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org> on 2010/08/18 14:27:15 UTC

Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Over on the Clerezza project I've been asked some advice about a legal 
situation that I'm not 100% sure about, I'm pretty sure it's a simple 
case so I'm asking the IPMC rather than legal-discuss@

In short:

- there is a few files that are part of an existing FOAF+SSL 
certification project (BSD licence) that Clerezza would like to include 
with some minor modifications (it's a complete unit of functionality, 
not just a small patch).

- the copyright holder (University of Manchester) may consent to 
submission to the ASF under the terms of the CLA - but depending on what 
level of approval is needed this could take time, so we are wondering if 
it is necessary in this case since it is already BSD licensed.

My questions are:

Would it be acceptable to just include the file with the BSD licence and 
copyright headers since they are license compatible.

If not..

Would we require a CCLA from Manchester or would an iCLA be sufficient 
(at this point I'm unclear if the code is written by the developer 
working with the Clerezza team or by someone else at Manchester).

Advice on the best way to proceed would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Ross

Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Jochen Wiedmann <jo...@gmail.com>.
BSD license as in "with advertising clause" or as in "new BSD license
without advertising clause? IANAL, but my impression is that the reply
depends on that.

Jochen


On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 2:27 PM, Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org> wrote:
> Over on the Clerezza project I've been asked some advice about a legal
> situation that I'm not 100% sure about, I'm pretty sure it's a simple case
> so I'm asking the IPMC rather than legal-discuss@
>
> In short:
>
> - there is a few files that are part of an existing FOAF+SSL certification
> project (BSD licence) that Clerezza would like to include with some minor
> modifications (it's a complete unit of functionality, not just a small
> patch).
>
> - the copyright holder (University of Manchester) may consent to submission
> to the ASF under the terms of the CLA - but depending on what level of
> approval is needed this could take time, so we are wondering if it is
> necessary in this case since it is already BSD licensed.
>
> My questions are:
>
> Would it be acceptable to just include the file with the BSD licence and
> copyright headers since they are license compatible.
>
> If not..
>
> Would we require a CCLA from Manchester or would an iCLA be sufficient (at
> this point I'm unclear if the code is written by the developer working with
> the Clerezza team or by someone else at Manchester).
>
> Advice on the best way to proceed would be very helpful.
>
> Thanks,
> Ross
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org
>
>



-- 
I Am What I Am And That's All What I Yam (Popeye)

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Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Benson Margulies <bi...@gmail.com>.
I'm sure I read the rules for this on some ASF web page only a week or
so ago ...

On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 9:23 AM, Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org> wrote:
> On 18/08/2010 13:59, Benson Margulies wrote:
>>
>> My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
>> add it to NOTICES.
>
> Sure, but what about the licence headers?
>
> Ross
>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 8:27 AM, Ross Gardler<rg...@apache.org>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Over on the Clerezza project I've been asked some advice about a legal
>>> situation that I'm not 100% sure about, I'm pretty sure it's a simple
>>> case
>>> so I'm asking the IPMC rather than legal-discuss@
>>>
>>> In short:
>>>
>>> - there is a few files that are part of an existing FOAF+SSL
>>> certification
>>> project (BSD licence) that Clerezza would like to include with some minor
>>> modifications (it's a complete unit of functionality, not just a small
>>> patch).
>>>
>>> - the copyright holder (University of Manchester) may consent to
>>> submission
>>> to the ASF under the terms of the CLA - but depending on what level of
>>> approval is needed this could take time, so we are wondering if it is
>>> necessary in this case since it is already BSD licensed.
>>>
>>> My questions are:
>>>
>>> Would it be acceptable to just include the file with the BSD licence and
>>> copyright headers since they are license compatible.
>>>
>>> If not..
>>>
>>> Would we require a CCLA from Manchester or would an iCLA be sufficient
>>> (at
>>> this point I'm unclear if the code is written by the developer working
>>> with
>>> the Clerezza team or by someone else at Manchester).
>>>
>>> Advice on the best way to proceed would be very helpful.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Ross
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
>>> For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org
>>>
>>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Benson Margulies <bi...@gmail.com>.
http://www.apache.org/legal/src-headers.html



On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 9:55 AM, Bruno Harbulot
<Br...@manchester.ac.uk> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On 18/08/2010 14:23, Ross Gardler wrote:
>>
>> On 18/08/2010 13:59, Benson Margulies wrote:
>>>
>>> My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
>>> add it to NOTICES.
>>
>> Sure, but what about the licence headers?
>
> I think I've seen this done in a few projects (I think one of them was
> Grizzly from Sun), where you get:
>
> /*
>  Copyright Sun...
>  + 3-clause BSD
>  */
> /*
>  Copyright Someone Else
>  + 3-clause BSD
>  */
>
> I guess that would work for the Apache Licence too.
>
> /*
>  Apache Licence / ASF
>  */
> /*
>  Copyright UoM + 3-clause BSD
>  */
>
>
>
> This tends to confuse template code stylers that "fix" the licence headers
> automatically, but they tend to get the licences wrong most of the time,
> even when there's a single licence (because they change the copyright dates
> on files even if they haven't been modified sometimes, which I think is
> incorrect).
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Bruno.
>
>
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Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Bruno Harbulot <Br...@manchester.ac.uk>.
Hi,

On 18/08/2010 14:23, Ross Gardler wrote:
> On 18/08/2010 13:59, Benson Margulies wrote:
>> My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
>> add it to NOTICES.
>
> Sure, but what about the licence headers?

I think I've seen this done in a few projects (I think one of them was 
Grizzly from Sun), where you get:

/*
  Copyright Sun...
  + 3-clause BSD
  */
/*
  Copyright Someone Else
  + 3-clause BSD
  */

I guess that would work for the Apache Licence too.

/*
  Apache Licence / ASF
  */
/*
  Copyright UoM + 3-clause BSD
  */



This tends to confuse template code stylers that "fix" the licence 
headers automatically, but they tend to get the licences wrong most of 
the time, even when there's a single licence (because they change the 
copyright dates on files even if they haven't been modified sometimes, 
which I think is incorrect).


Best wishes,

Bruno.


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Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org>.
On 18/08/2010 13:59, Benson Margulies wrote:
> My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
> add it to NOTICES.

Sure, but what about the licence headers?

Ross

>
> On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 8:27 AM, Ross Gardler<rg...@apache.org>  wrote:
>> Over on the Clerezza project I've been asked some advice about a legal
>> situation that I'm not 100% sure about, I'm pretty sure it's a simple case
>> so I'm asking the IPMC rather than legal-discuss@
>>
>> In short:
>>
>> - there is a few files that are part of an existing FOAF+SSL certification
>> project (BSD licence) that Clerezza would like to include with some minor
>> modifications (it's a complete unit of functionality, not just a small
>> patch).
>>
>> - the copyright holder (University of Manchester) may consent to submission
>> to the ASF under the terms of the CLA - but depending on what level of
>> approval is needed this could take time, so we are wondering if it is
>> necessary in this case since it is already BSD licensed.
>>
>> My questions are:
>>
>> Would it be acceptable to just include the file with the BSD licence and
>> copyright headers since they are license compatible.
>>
>> If not..
>>
>> Would we require a CCLA from Manchester or would an iCLA be sufficient (at
>> this point I'm unclear if the code is written by the developer working with
>> the Clerezza team or by someone else at Manchester).
>>
>> Advice on the best way to proceed would be very helpful.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Ross
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
>> For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org
>>
>>
>
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> To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
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Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org>.
I'm away on holiday at present so just a very quick mail to wrap this up 
before I lose connectivity completely.

BACKGROUND: In short Benson wanted to check Clerezza was OK using some 
of their code under a BSD licence.

I felt it would be better for him to formally contribute the code to the 
project, but as Benson was concerned about getting the appropriate 
paperwork in place in reasonable time he had read the guidance and 
decided it could be included under the BSD licence.

I checked the details of this, and indeed Benson's interpretation is 
correct (most authoritative response from Nik Kew below).

Note, Henry Story has been working with Benson on getting this code into 
Clerezza.

I'm still of the opinion that it would be better to have the code 
formally donated to the ASF to keep things simple and clear. However, 
this is not necessary and a simple inclusion with credits would suffice. 
In the interests of speed there is no need to get full approval from the 
original copyright holder since the code is under BSD license.

Ross


On 18/08/2010 18:42, Nick Kew wrote:
>
> On 18 Aug 2010, at 13:59, Benson Margulies wrote:
>
>> My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
>> add it to NOTICES.
>
> Indeed.  We have precedent on bundling of third-party code,
> such as expat and pcre.
>


Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Nick Kew <ni...@apache.org>.
On 18 Aug 2010, at 13:59, Benson Margulies wrote:

> My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
> add it to NOTICES.

Indeed.  We have precedent on bundling of third-party code,
such as expat and pcre.

-- 
Nick Kew

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Re: Need some clarity on a small size code donation

Posted by Benson Margulies <bi...@gmail.com>.
My understanding is that for a 'category A' license like BSD you just
add it to NOTICES.

On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 8:27 AM, Ross Gardler <rg...@apache.org> wrote:
> Over on the Clerezza project I've been asked some advice about a legal
> situation that I'm not 100% sure about, I'm pretty sure it's a simple case
> so I'm asking the IPMC rather than legal-discuss@
>
> In short:
>
> - there is a few files that are part of an existing FOAF+SSL certification
> project (BSD licence) that Clerezza would like to include with some minor
> modifications (it's a complete unit of functionality, not just a small
> patch).
>
> - the copyright holder (University of Manchester) may consent to submission
> to the ASF under the terms of the CLA - but depending on what level of
> approval is needed this could take time, so we are wondering if it is
> necessary in this case since it is already BSD licensed.
>
> My questions are:
>
> Would it be acceptable to just include the file with the BSD licence and
> copyright headers since they are license compatible.
>
> If not..
>
> Would we require a CCLA from Manchester or would an iCLA be sufficient (at
> this point I'm unclear if the code is written by the developer working with
> the Clerezza team or by someone else at Manchester).
>
> Advice on the best way to proceed would be very helpful.
>
> Thanks,
> Ross
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org
>
>

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