[En-Nut-Discussion] RFC: Copyright of trivial code

[Ulrich Prinz]

Hey guys, where is the real problem on that?

The guys who extend the code in any which way, do that with the
knowledge that they extend / modify a BSD licensed system. If the want
to contribute to the project they need to accept the way the software is
handled and therefore stick to BSD license too.
They know it!

So if the code is trivial or complex is not the point of discussion and
it is trivial to copy and paste the BSD header into any new contributed
file, simple or complex.

If there is an issue with keeping BSD license headers up to date, we
should suggest to automate that job with scripts or whatever.

I would not accept any reverse capturing of code by any other license in
NutOS. So if someone feels that his code must be GPL, he cannot
contribute to NutOS if this code relies on other existing code.
So what we have to avoid is that a GPL guy is adding GPL code and for
that to fit he makes changes in other existing parts and suddenly
reaquires this as GPL too.
That is what TI calls viral license behavior, as it creeps through the
system and gathers more and more of the code around it.

I have no problem with GPL code that is separately attached to Nut/OS
like the mpeg decoder. It is clearly a part aside the system and can be
used and must be separately enabled.

To much commercial systems base on Nut/OS and it should never happen
that I get a letter of a lawyer who states that my system build 2 years
ago violates the GPL cause I missed to track what happened to my code
and who changed the license headers.

The story of Linux clearly showed us that free software isn't free at
all. Keep the BSD license and keep it in all files, please!

Best regards
Ulrich