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

[Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Jun 14, 2021 at 11:53 AM Carlos O'Donell via Libc-alpha
<libc-alpha@sourceware.org> wrote:
>
> Community,
>
> glibc was created as part of the GNU Project but has grown to operate as
> an autonomous project. As part of the GNU Toolchain the glibc stewards
> support the gcc project policy changes presented here:
> https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2021-June/236182.html
>
> The glibc stewards are seeking input from developers to decide if the project
> should relax the requirement to assign copyright for all changes to the
> Free Software Foundation as follows:
>
> Contributors who have an FSF Copyright Assignment wouldn't need to
> change anything.  Contributors who wish to utilize the Developer Certificate
> of Origin[1] would add a Signed-off-by message to their commit messages.
>
> The changes to accept patches with or without FSF copyright assignment
> would be effective on August 2nd, and would apply to all open branches.

Yes, please!

To give a concrete example of what a barrier this can be to contributors:

When I was in graduate school and contracting for OLPC, I wanted to
contribute a fix to GCC [1]. I was asked to complete the copyright
assignment paperwork and disclosed that I was a student in university.
That necessitated the FSF paperwork being approved by my university...

Research universities often have technology-transfer rules, designed
around handling inventions created by professors and research
assistants. Despite not doing research for the university, not working
on GCC for the university, not doing the work with anyone from the
university, and not doing the work with any property from the
university, the university required me to fill out paperwork
describing the "invention" and provide information on how they might
"market it".

A process which began in October finally concluded in April, the month
before I graduated. Not coincidentally, someone in the tech-transfer
office asked me if I could simply wait until after I graduated to
contribute...

I can imagine most people would simply not contribute if they knew
they'd have to go through this (or neglect to mention to the FSF that
they're a university student, as I would do if I had known).

None of this is the fault of the copyright assignment policy per se,
but it does demonstrate how it's not as simple as signing a piece of
paper.

[1] I believe it was
https://patchwork.ozlabs.org/project/gcc/patch/CAEdQ38ECXJahf8sp8b7Yq5NgOQBh9MQ7s3LxfSmZJhJva-UfDg@mail.gmail.com/