discuss: Modifiability of documentation and software
Subject:
Re: Modifiability of documentation and software
From:
"M. Leo Cooper" ####@####.####
Date:
24 Feb 2005 04:23:24 -0000
Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.4.50.0502232114470.3186-100000@localhost.localdomain>
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005, David Lawyer wrote:
> 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.
That's a reasonable compromise. . . .
One additional argument against a license that permits *anyone* to
modify your document is that it could be "hijacked" by the wrong people
-- Microsoft, for example. This was brought home to me when, about a
year and a half ago, I discovered obsolete versions of two of my LDP
howtos on an SCO Group* server. And these documents had a Caldera-branded
navigation bar. Well, I repeatedly emailed SCOG, notifying them that
they had modified my documents in an unacceptable way. They did finally
remove the offensive navigation bar. I wish they had removed the entire
documents, but I couldn't legally force them to do so. At least, though,
I had a little bit of leverage.
* For anyone not aware of what the SCO Group has been doing, they're
suing IBM and trying to kill Linux and the Open Source movement.
Mendel
