discuss: Modifiability of documentation and software
Subject:
Re: Modifiability of documentation and software
From:
David Lawyer ####@####.####
Date:
24 Feb 2005 18:45:46 -0000
Message-Id: <20050224103028.GA888@lafn.org>
On Thu, Feb 24, 2005 at 12:33:48AM -0800, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> Hi
>
> Software
> > needs to be free since it's relatively hard to write
> > it and much of it
> > is reusable. But for documentation, the situation
> > is a lot different.
>
> documentation might be more easy to write but its also
> more tedious. just look at the list of major
> undocumented Free software
>
>
> > I've looked at a few of our old documents that are
> > out-of-date and they
> > mostly need to be entirely rewritten. This can be
> > done even if the doc
> > doesn't allow modification. Why? Because one uses
> > the info in the
> > obsolete doc plus information in other docs to write
> > a new doc. Facts
> > are not copyrighted.
>
>
> sure but rewrite from scratch is a lot more tedious process than
> making necessary modifications. If the docs are not modifiable they
> wont be distributed by many open source distributions either. what
> happens to that goal?
So far no distributions have objected except for Debian, which
distributed the non-modifiable ones in a different package. I don't
think they should have done this.
> >
> > I'm in favor of modifiable docs, but not as strongly as you are.
> > One argument in favor of non-modifiable is that this way, all
> > modifications must be approved by the author.
>
>
> that puts control to a single entity. If he/she denies even basic
> corrections or is not reachable for a prolonged period the messup
> remains
I agree.
>
> Some modifications
> > by others have sometimes only made things worse.
>
> we cant even rely on the authors themselves worsening the document.
> This should be taken care of reviews and not through restrictive
> licensing
The author is unlikely to make it worse. We are often short of
qualified reviewers.
> > Also, in this case the author can select which person s/he wants to
> > become the new author. This might help maintain quality.
> What if the author is not reachable at all?
>
> >
> > Since the LDP was founded, it has accepted non-modifiable docs, but
> > since 2000, it's been "encouraged" that they be modifiable. I think
> > that as a compromise, we might require that a doc must be modifiable
> > in the case that the author can't be located. If an author changes
> > his email, then a revised doc with the new email should be
> > submitted. This will need a license stating this.
> another custom license. I dont really like this idea at all. Here is a
> alternative proposal
It gets worse regarding custom licenses. Prohibiting adding
advertisements is another thing that could be added to a license. It
would also include prohibiting display of the document with advertising
in the form of pop-ups, etc. Even if modification is not allowed, one
could claim that they haven't modified it even though they force you to
look at advertising while you read it. They could use frames for this.
This stuff happens and is happening right now. The misuse of HOWTOs is
great, including proliferation of outdated HOWTOs when newer versions
exist.
>
> 1)No custom licenses
> 2)Require that the authros choose amoung standard
> license that allows modification and commercial
> redistribution like GNU FDL or creative commons
> attribution share alike license
> 3)Review each document when proposed and put a "LDP
> mark" of quality on it. Do not allow the documents
> which are modified from the ones in LDP to have that
> mark.
> 4)when a new author wants to take over a relatively
> unmaintained document, LDP makes a reasonable effort
> to contact the original author and then hands over
> the document to the new author *after* he/she proposes
> their modified document to the list and these
> modifications are considered acceptable
>
>
>
>
>
> =====
> Regards
> Rahul Sundaram
>
>
>
>
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>
David Lawyer
