Re: copyright message with(out) directives

[Paul Eggert]

address@hidden (Karl Berry) writes:

> I recall past discussions about this, but don't know what the current
> preference is.

I agree with Bruno about the desirability of parameterizing this.

> And, another point, I see that cp --version, for example, has somehwat
> different wording:

I think the coding standards have changed since cp --version was
written.  I installed the following patch into gnulib and coreutils,
so that they should now conform to the current coding standards.

2005-07-11  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * lib/version-etc-fsf.c (version_etc_copyright): Parameterize the
        copyright symbol and the year.
        * lib/version-etc.c (COPYRIGHT_YEAR): New constant.
        (version_etc_va): Use parameterized copyright notice.
        Reword to conform to the current GNU coding standards.

Index: lib/version-etc-fsf.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /fetish/cu/lib/version-etc-fsf.c,v
retrieving revision 1.2
diff -p -u -r1.2 version-etc-fsf.c
--- lib/version-etc-fsf.c       14 May 2005 07:58:07 -0000      1.2
+++ lib/version-etc-fsf.c       11 Jul 2005 21:54:39 -0000
@@ -27,5 +27,7 @@
 /* Default copyright goes to the FSF. */
 
 const char version_etc_copyright[] =
-  /* Do *not* mark this string for translation.  */
-  "Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.";
+  /* Do *not* mark this string for translation.  %s is a copyright
+     symbol suitable for this locale, and %d is the copyright
+     year.  */
+  "Copyright %s %d Free Software Foundation, Inc.";
Index: lib/version-etc.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /fetish/cu/lib/version-etc.c,v
retrieving revision 1.22
diff -p -u -r1.22 version-etc.c
--- lib/version-etc.c   14 May 2005 07:58:07 -0000      1.22
+++ lib/version-etc.c   11 Jul 2005 21:54:39 -0000
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@
 #include "gettext.h"
 #define _(msgid) gettext (msgid)
 
+enum { COPYRIGHT_YEAR = 2005 };
+
 /* Like version_etc, below, but with the NULL-terminated author list
    provided via a variable of type va_list.  */
 void
@@ -64,6 +66,20 @@ version_etc_va (FILE *stream,
   else
     fprintf (stream, "%s %s\n", package, version);
 
+  /* TRANSLATORS: Translate "(C)" to the copyright symbol
+     (C-in-a-circle), if this symbol is available in the user's
+     locale.  Otherwise, do not translate "(C)"; leave it as-is.  */
+  fprintf (stream, version_etc_copyright, _("(C)"), COPYRIGHT_YEAR);
+
+  fputs (_("\
+\n\
+This is free software.  You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of\n\
+the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.\n\
+There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.\n\
+\n\
+"),
+        stream);
+
   switch (n_authors)
     {
     case 0:
@@ -135,15 +151,6 @@ Written by %s, %s, %s,\n%s, %s, %s, %s,\
       break;
     }
   va_end (authors);
-  putc ('\n', stream);
-
-  fputs (version_etc_copyright, stream);
-  putc ('\n', stream);
-
-  fputs (_("\
-This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO\n\
-warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR 
PURPOSE.\n"),
-        stream);
 }