Re: Emacs contributions, C and Lisp

[Phillip Lord]

David Kastrup <address@hidden> writes:
> I've never learnt working with Bzr and never checked out the Emacs
> repository with it.
>
> That did not preclude me from sending the occasional patch to the list,
> based on the Git mirror of the Emacs repository.

etc/CONTRIBUTE doesn't mention this.

> With regard to copyright assignments, you pretend that it is some magic
> ritual of initiation.  There is nobody who'd be more glad than the FSF
> if this kind of paperwork was without merit and unneeded.  Thank your
> law makers for that.  Or better, tell them that you want them to work on
> getting back the situation before the Berne convention where copyright
> is only asserted when a copyright notice is placed in a document.

Copyright assignment is a significant barrier to entry, I think, when
projects have started *outside* emacs and then come in. Getting your own
papers done is enough without having to encouraging others. Not the FSF
fault, I agree.

Perhaps the FSF should generate a nice icon, or have a public list (for
those that want it) of those who have already done this assignment. It
would be a small badge of honour, but would also make it easier for
people developing outside whether a potential contributor has already
had this done. A FSF-ready icon would be good also, that people could
put in their README.

Just a thought.

Phil