Why not contribute? (to GCC)

[Andrew Haley]

On 04/25/2010 06:05 PM, Steven Bosscher wrote:
> On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 6:48 PM, Michael Witten <mfwitten@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 11:33, Richard Kenner
>> If I submit a patch to the GCC project---necessitating an assignment
>> of the copyright to the FSF---then can the people of the FSF decide
>> that they don't want me to distribute my own work in another project
>> (proprietary or otherwise)?
> 
> No. This is very explicitly mentioned in the copyright assignment
> papers. For example, from my own copy (2002):
> 
> "1.(d) FSF agrees to grant back to Developer, and does hereby grant,
> non-exclusive, royalty-free and non-cancellable rights to use the
> Works (i.e., Developer's changes and/or enhancements, not The Program
> that they enhance), as Developer sees fit."

This is an example of a case where an explicit copyright agreement
helps everyone.  Clarity is good.

Andrew.