[Python-Dev] License() release list is imcomplete; intentional? (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Tue Sep 17 19:51:28 CEST 2013

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Antoine Pitrou <solipsis at pitrou.net>wrote:

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 09:47:48 -0700 Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote: > > IIRC this table was added when a few core Python developers including > myself left CNRI in 2000. We had a bit of an argument about the license > (not too much though -- in the end things came out alright). Some lawyer at > CNRI thought it was a good idea to record a release history like this with > the license, as a defense against whatever claims of ownership to the code > someone else might suddenly come up with. Since all I wanted was to get out > of there while causing them minimal upset, I told them I'd comply. But > that's over 13 years ago now, and I'm not sure if it ever made sense (the > internet is a different place than CNRI's lawyers envisioned). Only the top > 10 of so lines of the table are in the least interesting (note that it > describes a graph). I propose that we truncate the table and add a note > saying that all following releases are owned by the PSF, GPL-compatible, > and derived from previous PSF-owned and GPL-compatible releases. That > should do until the PSF goes out of business (which I hope will never > happen -- this is one reason why I wish the conferences were run by a > separate entity, to avoid a conference bankruptcy from risking Python's > continued open-source status).

The PSF isn't technically the copyright holder, so would that pose a significant threat?

I have no idea. If you want a real answer talk to a lawyer.

(at worse the PSF could relicense Python based on the copyright agreements, but Python would still be distributable under the original license)

But only the PSF has the list of original contributors and their licenses.

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