Re: Seeking input from developers: glibc copyright assignment policy.

[Florian Weimer <fweimer@redhat.com>]

* Eli Zaretskii:

>> From: Florian Weimer <fweimer@redhat.com>
>> Cc: Siddhesh Poyarekar <siddhesh@gotplt.org>,  Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
>> Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2021 09:24:51 +0200
>> 
>> * Eli Zaretskii via Libc-alpha:
>> 
>> > I'm showing text from the assignment agreement that IMO clearly says
>> > the developer retains all the rights.
>> 
>> No, the developer gives up copyright ownership.
>
> I don't understand what that means, sorry.  The text says I can do
> anything and everything I want with the code, except interfering with
> the FSF's use of that code.  So what exactly did I give up?

Ownership, that is, you don't control anymore who gets to use the code
and under what terms.

>> This has real legal consequences, and it is quite different from a
>> broad-ranging license to use the contributions.  If the FSF wanted
>> the latter, it could ask for precisely that, but instead it asks for
>> full ownership.
>
> I looked up all the instances of "owner" and "ownership" in the CLA
> text, and couldn't find where they ask for "full ownership".  What did
> I miss?

I have a personal FSF copyright assignment that talks about “rights of
the copyright owner” and “the right to enforce the copyright”.  The FSF
probably uses different assignment contracts over time and for different
components.

(Another advantage of the DCO: the terms are totally transparent.)

Thanks,
Florian