Permission for Research

[Joe Buck]

> =>Yutaka Yamauchi wrote:
> =>> I am a student studying the innovations of open-source software
> =>> development. I'm now tackling the research question, "Why and how can
> =>> open-source development achieve innovations while members are
> =>> geographically dispersed?"

Nathan Sidwell writes:
> OTOH, asking the question in the first place sort demonstrates a lack of
> understanding of open source, doesn't it?

No, not at all, because the discussions on the gcc list have not been
explicitly put under an open source license.  Each comment is implicitly
copyrighted by the person who submitted the comment (in all countries that
have signed the Berne convention, which includes pretty much everyone),
meaning if Yamauchi-san wishes to publish extensive text from the
messages, he would need permission from the authors.  But he's free to
describe the discussion or the development process in general terms
without permission, like any reporter or researcher studying public
activity.

> I mean, if you have to ask permission, it's not open.

If in doubt, asking permission is good manners, and if you want to
interview people it's hard to do so without their permission. :-)