Re: On Contributing To Emacs

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Akira Kyle <akira@akirakyle.com>
> Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2021 17:15:17 -0700
> Cc: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>, Emacs developers <emacs-devel@gnu.org>
> 
> It is really a shame that this process is so time consuming and
> discouraging for someone like me.

The word "shame" doesn't belong here IMO, or at least it isn't the
copyright assignment process that should be ashamed.  Blame the
ridiculous software copyright issues and large corporations that are
behind those, and also dishonest people and companies which use free
software without making their code freely available.

Saying "it's a shame" that assignment process is needed and is in some
cases legally complicated is like blaming the traffic lights for
turning red at times.  It's not the traffic light that should be
blamed, it's the chaos that would ensue if the traffic laws were not
in place and enforced.

Of course, speeding up the assignment process is a worthy goal, but
some things cannot be sped up beyond some limit, and if people and
organizations should be involved that are not the FSF staff, we cannot
in good faith blame the FSF staff for having to wait for those other
people to get their act together.

In general, my advice to people who send the assignment form is to
ping the FSF clerk after a week if they don't get any response and CC
me.