Should we just start a Contributors page on the wiki and be done with it?
Deleting a name, check that it's on the wiki page.
Committing a patch, check that the author is on the wiki page.
-Nathan
On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 1:12 AM, Xiao-Feng Li <xiaofeng.li@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 8:03 AM, sebb <sebbaz@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 12/10/2009, bootjvm@earthlink.net <bootjvm@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> > [Original Message]
>>> > From: Tim Ellison <t.p.ellison@gmail.com>
>>> > To: <dev@harmony.apache.org>
>>> > Date: 10/9/2009 2:54:32 AM
>>> > Subject: Re: [general] Remove @author tags from code (HARMONY-6348)
>>>
>>> >
>>> > On 09/Oct/2009 00:25, Mark Hindess wrote:
>>> > > In message <529434575.1255030111261.JavaMail.jira@brutus>,
>>> > > "Jesse Wilson (JIRA)" writes:
>>> > >> Remove @author tags from code
>>> > >> -----------------------------
>>> > >>
>>> > >> Key: HARMONY-6348
>>> > >> URL:
>>> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HARMONY-6348
>>> > >> Project: Harmony
>>> > >> Issue Type: Task
>>> > >> Reporter: Jesse Wilson
>>> > >> Priority: Minor
>>> > >>
>>> > >>
>>> > >> From a 2004 email
>>> > >>
>>> http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/jakarta-jmeter-dev/200402.mbox/<403
>>> 9F65E.7020406@atg.com>
>>> > >> "author tags are officially discouraged. these create difficulties
>>> in
>>> > >> establishing the proper ownership and the protection
of our
>>> > >> committers. there are other social issues dealing with
>>> collaborative
>>> > >> development, but the Board is concerned about the legal
>>> ramifications
>>> > >> around the use of author tags
>>> > >>
>>> > >> I'd like to remove author tags from Harmony code to bring it
closer
>>> > >> into alignment with Android, which has no author tags.
>>>
>>>
>>> Notice that this was in 2004 which was before the
>>> current rendition of file headers, NOTICES file, etc.,
>>> was put in place in November 2005. I think the legal
>>> issues have long since been resolved.
>>>
>>>
>>> > >
>>> > > I'm not directly concerned about alignment with Android but I do
think
>>> that
>>> > > Apache policy encourages @author tag removal so I am in favour of
doing
>>> this.
>>> > >
>>> > >> Unless there are objections, I'll prepare a patch...
>>> > >
>>> > > What do you think? If there are no objections then next week I
shall
>>> > > script their removal.
>>> >
>>> > As I've said before, I'm +0 for removing the author tags.
>>> >
>>> > I know that concerns have been raised in the past about people getting
>>> > the proper recognition for their contributions. May I suggest that if
>>> > you remove all the author tags that you collate the names and post a
>>> > list here for posterity. That should associate people's names with
>>> > Harmony archives well enough, or we can combine it with a list of the
>>> > ICLAs we have received and create a contributors file in SVN.
>>> >
>>> > Regards,
>>> > Tim
>>>
>>>
>>> This is a perennial question. We have been through this question before
>>> on this list and/or its Incubator predecessor. The issue was finally
>>> dropped
>>> and no action taken. Yes, in principle, it could be nice to remove @author
>>> tags. No, one of the reasons people contribute to organizations like ASF
>>> is to make their mark in the universe, namely, "I was here." For most
>>> people,
>>> this is not a question of egotism but merely a desire to have _one_ very
>>> _small_
>>> note of recognition for the work they did--by name. Nothing else. I think
>>> that
>>> the contributors who have their name in the source code are looking for this
>>> and likely looking ONLY for this small recognition. I would suggest that
if
>>> they put it there, leave it there. Those who do not put it there can be
>>> satisfied
>>> with the absence of their names from the code. Perhaps this might be a
>>> useful middle ground.
>>
>> The problem with @author tags in code is that they can very quickly
>> get out of date.
>> After a few years of edits, how much of the original code is left?
>> Have the tags been kept up to date? Does it really make sense to have
>> recognition in the source code?
>
> Last time when this issue was discussed, my opinion is that:
> 1) Any new contributor of a file has the right to remove the old
> @author tag in that file;
> 2) If the new contributor removes the old @author tag, he/she should
> not add his/her own name in it;
> 3) If a file has no new contributor, the original author tag can be
> kept as is, unless he/she agrees to remove the name.
> 4) Agreed with Tim to keep a name list of contributors if their names
> are removed;
> 5) I support to remove all the occurrences of my name in all the
> files, no matter if there is a new contributor of not.
>
> Thanks,
> xiaofeng
>
>> Seems to me it's better to have a "contributors" page, for example as in:
>>
>> http://commons.apache.org/email/team-list.html
>>
>> Much easier to manage - and better visibility too.
>>
>>> Dan Lydick
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> http://people.apache.org/~xli
>
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