Re: small enhancements to gdb here..

[Fernando Nasser <fnasser at cygnus dot com>]

Don Beusee wrote:
> 
> Ugh!!  That is too much work.  If you will not accept this email as agreement to transfer copyright control over to FSF, then forget it.  I am not going through all that hastle just to submit a few very minor enhancements.
> 
> I gave you the patch already.  It is yours to do freely as you wish.  I do NOT retain any copyright to it, nor does my company, since it only exists on my workstation and I am the only person who knows about it and using it.
> 
> If these enhancements should appear in the next release of gdb, I will be able to delete the patch & sources from my system.
> 
> I really hope this email is enough for you to accept such a small patch.  If it is not, that's too bad...
> 

First of all, it is not for me to decide.  GDB was created and is owned by
the FSF.  The assignment is not for me (I can do nothing with it), but to the
FSF.  They receive this things, review and file it and them post so we know
from who we can accept patches.

Second, I believe we all agree with you that it is somewhat of a hassle to
have to get an assignment to be able to contribute to Free Software.
I have even heard that the FSF hates having to deal with this.
However, there are crazy proprietary software companies out there, with loads
of highly-payed money-seeking lawyers that would love an opportunity to
make GNU software unavailable based on some Intellectual Property claim.
To protect Free Software, we must collect assignments.

Although I agree it is some extra work, it is really not that bad and it is
a one time thing.  Once you give them your assignment and they add it to the
file you don't need to make another for its validity (you only need another
when you change employers, or if you made it specific to a certain change).
Lots of people have done that and it doesn't seem to be that bad.
 
It will be a shame if this small step prevents you to contribute to Free
Software.  It seems that you have good ideas and it would be nice to have
you around.

Think about it.

Regards,
Feranndo



-- 
Fernando Nasser
Red Hat Canada Ltd.                     E-Mail:  fnasser@redhat.com
2323 Yonge Street, Suite #300
Toronto, Ontario   M4P 2C9