Re: pull requests

[Stefan Monnier]

>   > > The legal problems: there could be code without copyright assignments.
>   > I don't see the problem: many packages on Savannah don't have their
>   > copyright assigned to the FSF, so the FSF's servers have been
>   > distributing code without copyright assignments for years already.
> You have equated two different kinds of cases:
> FSF-copyrighted packages and non-FSF-copyrighted packages.
> Emacs is an FSF-copyrighted package, so we do not allow code into
> the repo unless it has a copyright assignment.

Yes, but it's a choice we make.  Not following it wouldn't get us into
legal trouble.

> This is a legal policy, not a technical one.

It's a strategic decision, AFAIK, i.e. dictated neither by technical nor
legal requirements.  Which is why the GNU project applies to some
packages and not all.

> To change it for merely technical reasons would be to let the tail wag
> the dog.

I was not arguing to change this policy.  I was just pointing out that
whether or not there is non-assigned Emacs-related code somewhere on
gnu.org is not a legal problem, AFAIK.  Neither do I think it would
weaken the FSF's hand in case it had to defend its copyright on the
actual Emacs code (assuming we keep following the policy that we only
accept copyright-assigned code into it, obviously).


        Stefan