[impdev] GPL requirements and the ChangeLog

[Adric R]

Is there any set format we need to follow when displaying the notice, i.e.
do we need to comment the specific sections, or just add "modifed by
so-and-so on such-and-such date" to the header?

I support the lazy option, for the record :) (although the idea of having
commits just for adding this info sounds kinda awkward, if I read your
workflow right. Is it possible to script a custom git command instead?)

-- MC

On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 12:46 AM, Jacek Antonelli
<jacek.antonelli at gmail.com>wrote:

> There are two related issues that we need to discuss and take some
> action on: the ChangeLog, and a specific requirement of the GPLv2,
> section 2 part a:
>
> > 2 a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
> > stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
>
> ( from http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html )
>
> We have overlooked this requirement, and have not been adding notices
> to the files that we have modified. We have been keeping a ChangeLog,
> but the wording of that GPL clause suggests that we must add a notice
> in the modified files themselves. The ChangeLog would be good enough
> if it were GPLv3, but we are stuck with GPLv2 due to LL's choice of
> license terms.
>
> Obviously, adding all these notices would be a big hassle to do
> manually, and we're likely to forget to add them sometimes. McCabe and
> I are already tired of maintaining even just the ChangeLog, so having
> to also maintain notices in all the files we modify would be a real
> nuisance.
>
> In the past, McCabe and I have discussed the possibility of updating
> the ChangeLog automatically, from the Git log message (since we mostly
> just copy and paste it already). In theory, we could write a script
> that would also add a notice to any modified files, and use that
> script as a Git "hook" to update the files automatically.
>
> Ideally, the workflow would allow us to be as lazy as possible:
> 1) Modify code as usual
> 2) Run "git commit"
> 3) Provide log message
> 4) Git hook script updates ChangeLog.txt and all modified files
> 5) Git stores the final results
> 6) Everyone lives happily ever after
>
> I think this is feasible with a Python script or something. It would
> be a little bit tricky to write the script, but do-able.
>
> We would also need to run the script to add notices in the files for
> all past modifications.
>
> What are your guys' thoughts on this?
>
> - Jacek
> _______________________________________________
> ImpDev mailing list
> ImpDev at lists.imprudenceviewer.org
> http://lists.imprudenceviewer.org/listinfo.cgi/impdev-imprudenceviewer.org
>



-- 
"Work is love made visible." — Kahlil Gibran

"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear
into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and
remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared
to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were for the
moment unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot
escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the
Republic to abdicate his responsibility." -- Edward R. Murrow, March 9, 1954
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.imprudenceviewer.org/pipermail/impdev-imprudenceviewer.org/attachments/20090903/4cf6f7ff/attachment-0001.html>