[chef] Re: Re: Re: Chef steps and licensing

[Hedge Hog < >]

On Sat, Apr 16, 2011 at 4:30 AM, Tom Thomas 
<
 >
 wrote:
> The detail from this discussion has now been added to as two FAQs on How To
> Contribute within the Chef Wiki.
>
nitpicking:

s/ If the original step file is / If the original file is /

Thanks

> Thanks,
>
> Tom Thomas | Opscode, Inc.
> 
 
>  | (c) 206.234.1193 | www.opscode.com
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 4:10 PM, Adam Jacob 
> <
 >
>  wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 2:08 PM, Hedge Hog 
>> <
 >
>> wrote:
>> > I've noticed some Chef step files have the opscode copyright and
>> > license header text, some don't.
>> > Given I'm refactoring some/many of these steps, I wonder what should
>> > be carried over in terms of licensing.
>> > To wit.  A step gets split into a Cucumber step file and an API file.
>> > The API file contains the logic - often different from the Chef logic
>> > (e.g uses Aruba or custom methods) - sometimes following quite closely
>> > the original logic.
>> > The step description too is sometimes the same, different or just
>> > similar.
>> >
>> > So the questions.  What do the various Authors and Opscode expect:
>> >  - When the API logic is influenced by Chef's
>> >  - When some of the step regexps are Chef's
>> >  - When the original step file has no license/copyright text
>> >
>> > Essentially the issue seems to be that 'portions' of a file have come
>> > from, been influenced by the Opscode/Chef code.
>>
>> You need to put attribution about the origins of some of the code in
>> the NOTICE file for your app. On an individual header, you can just
>> add yourself as an author/copyright holder. If the original step file
>> is lacking the license header, please let us know, so we can add one.
>> Even in their absence, they are covered by the Apache 2 license.
>>
>> > Yet it doesn't seem right that I can take the license/copyright text of
>> > say:
>> >
>> > # Author:: Adam Jacob 
>> > (<
 >)
>> > # Copyright:: Copyright (c) 2008 Opscode, Inc.
>> > # License:: Apache License, Version 2.0
>> > #
>> > etc
>> >
>> > and change it to arbitrarily assert that only portions of the file are
>> > now Authored by Adam Jacob copyright by Opscode.
>> >
>> > # Portions Authored:: Adam Jacob 
>> > (<
 >)
>> > # Portions Copyright:: Copyright (c) 2008 Opscode, Inc.
>> > # License:: Apache License, Version 2.0
>> > #
>> > etc
>>
>> You can absolutely put some text in the header file saying that your
>> new work is based on the old work, and the original header is below.
>>
>> > That is, it seem I need to get their agreement.   And then the
>> > agreement of anyone else whose authorship/copyright I come across?
>> > Correct?
>>
>> You can re-use the work without having to get the agreement of the
>> original authors, as long as you're not going to be changing the
>> licensing terms at all (ie: you release the final derived work as
>> Apache 2) *and* you don't modify the fact that the code you are
>> incorporating remains copyrighted by the original authors.
>>
>> The Apache License grants these rights to those who receive a copy of
>> the software.
>>
>> Happy to help,
>> Adam
>>
>> --
>> Opscode, Inc.
>> Adam Jacob, Chief Product Officer
>> T: (206) 619-7151 E: 
>> 
 
>
>



-- 
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[The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.]
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