Re: [gnu.org #25869] eCos as an FSF project?

[Jonathan Larmour <jifl@eCosCentric.com>]

I don't think there are any problems with the FSF's response other than, 
obviously, the documentation....

FSF General Contact Address wrote:
> 
> Such non-free documentation would be problematic, yes. 

So we can't even distribute the documentation with eCos even if it's not 
assigned to the FSF. The documentation is unfortunately IMO too important 
to lose. Most of it, including much of the RedBoot stuff, is pretty much 
irreplaceable really.

> Red Hat disclaims all changes made by its employees to a number of GNU
> programs.  We may approach them about doing the same for eCos if you all
> are dedicated to making it a GNU project, and may be able to deal with this
> problem by obtaining full copyright on the document and relicensing it.

It seems that approaching Red Hat is back on the agenda (again!).

I think we need a definite decision now on this before we try to get Red 
Hat's permission to assign copyright or relicense the docs under the FDL. 
If Red Hat don't oblige I believe we have consensus that the only feasible 
alternative is dropping assignments (but retaining a disclaimer).

There probably isn't any sensible way to do this other than a vote, and 
there are 7 of us so no worries about a tie... so is this categorically 
what everyone agrees with? Please reply ASAP, as I'd like to get the ball 
rolling with Red Hat ASAP. Vote on 
ecos-maintainers-private[at]ecoscentric.com if you prefer.

I vote to go ahead with Red Hat, but if that fails, drop assignments but 
retain a disclaimer.

Something else to think about is whether we should plough ahead with 2.0 
final anyway, or wait till we hear from Red Hat, or at the very least wait 
for some time period for Red Hat. For "just" the documentation, they will 
hopefully be amenable to an accommodation - it's not like the FSF are an 
unknown quantity! Something to consider anyway, and it's obvious we can't 
wait with 2.0 going stale, so I suggest a drop dead date, which we 
wouldn't be real close anyway, as there are still some outstanding 2.0 issues.

Jifl
-- 
eCosCentric    http://www.eCosCentric.com/    The eCos and RedBoot experts
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