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Re: [RFA/doco] Update copyright year in refcard
- From: Joel Brobecker <brobecker at adacore dot com>
- To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz at gnu dot org>
- Cc: gdb-patches at sourceware dot org
- Date: Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:30:41 +0400
- Subject: Re: [RFA/doco] Update copyright year in refcard
- References: <20100101091818.GJ548@adacore.com> <83d41uf6b9.fsf@gnu.org>
> > The header is easy, I just added 2010. The text, however, does not
> > use spaces after the comma when specifying the copyright years.
> > I followed the current usage for now, but I can certainly add spaces.
>
> It's a matter of style. I like the spaces better, so if you have a
> moment to spare, please go ahead.
OK. Since I'm modifying the file, it was no problem adding the spaces.
I also change the '92 into 1992. Attached is what I checked in for now.
> No, that was voted down by FSF lawyers at some point. IANAL, so I
> don't know the details, only that RMS told a few years ago that each
> year needs to be spelled out.
OK. I don't mind that for the copyright headers. That still leaves me
wondering what should be done for the copyright notice in manuals, or
the copyright year printed by GDB, gdbserver, etc. I believe that GDB
does the right thing, and just prints the current year. It is not
so bad if it's a few years, but it looks a bit silly when the list
spans an entirely line or more... I looked at a few manuals,
particularly the ones that got reprinted, and they seem to follow
a convention where the print one line per reprint, something like:
(c) 2004 This Press Ltd
(c) 2006 This Press Ltd
(c) 2008 A Better Press And Sons Ltd
I'm happy to follow whatever the FSF dictates, but it would be nice
if we could simply have just the current year in our manuals.
> I think we should add them now. It is okay fixing a mistake such as
> this one; leaving the mistake alone is not a good idea, because it
> makes the file unprotected for the years when it was actually
> maintained.
According to Robert Dewar, who is not a lawyer, headers such as these
are not legally significant. So I don't think we need to worry about
this too much. But I also think we should fix them whereever we see
an error and we're sure. So I've added 2007/8/9 to the refcard, for
instance. I'm pretty sure for some years before that, but up to when?
I would need to verify in our CVS which, I have to confess, isn't
very appealing at the moment (I've done my share of paperwork for today).
Thanks a lot for the review and the feedback.
--
Joel
Index: refcard.tex
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/src/src/gdb/doc/refcard.tex,v
retrieving revision 1.6
diff -u -p -r1.6 refcard.tex
--- refcard.tex 27 Mar 2007 18:09:35 -0000 1.6
+++ refcard.tex 1 Jan 2010 11:15:31 -0000
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% gdb-refcard.tex %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%This file is TeX source for a reference card describing GDB, the GNU debugger.
-%Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007
-%Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+%Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008,
+%2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
%Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
%this reference provided the copyright notices and permission notices
%are preserved on all copies.
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ shell {\it cmd}&execute arbitrary shell
\line{\smrm \opt{ } surround optional arguments \hfill $\ldots$ show
one or more arguments}
\vskip\baselineskip
-\centerline{\smrm \copyright 1998,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.\qquad Permissions on back}
+\centerline{\smrm \copyright 1998, 2000, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.\qquad Permissions on back}
\eject
\sec Breakpoints and Watchpoints;
break \opt{\it file\tt:}{\it line}\par
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ statement.\cr
\vfill
{\smrm\parskip=6pt
-Copyright \copyright 1991,'92,'93,'98,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright \copyright 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Author: Roland H. Pesch
The author assumes no responsibility for any errors on this card.