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1-byte docs commit? Not without a CLA
- sp332 10y agoImagine how awkward it would be if Google owned the copyright on all the documentation except that byte. I don't blame them at all.
- hydrogen18 10y agoIf you can copyright a single byte, I'm going to copyright the null byte. Literally every C program in the world will need licensing from me.
- sp332 10y agoYou need to copyright a specific null byte. It only counts as infringement if someone copies it from you.
- pekk 10y agoAnd of course, even if you delete the byte you still have a derived work.
- markbao 10y agoIt's ridiculous on the face of it, but at what point do you need to have a CLA signed? 10 bytes? Having an arbitrary cutoff for what needs a CLA or doesn't, I think, is probably even worse than having a CLA.
- __david__ 10y agoGNU Emacs says this[1]: We can accept small changes (roughly, fewer than 15 lines) without an assignment. This is a cumulative limit (e.g. three separate 5 line patches) over all your contributions. [1] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/CONTRIBUTE https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/CONTRIBUTE (in the Copyright Assignment section)
- ars 10y agoThat byte is not copyrightable, it's as simple as that. It follows the rules on what is copyrightable. So mechanical changes (for example reformatting text), that involve no creativity are not copyrightable and IMO would not need a CLA even if they were very extensive. On the other hand a single line with complicated and creative code would. Like all things human it's subjective, there is no bright line but courts have definitely dealt with this issue (often in the context of plagiarism of musical passages).
- ryanobjc 10y agoThis is how rule of law looks like. No exceptions for friend of friends, or the second cousin to the mayor. It does occasionally lead to seemingly absurd situations, but there it is.
- mwasser 10y agoRandom aside: I think it is amazing that first you found this commit + posted about it, then that I saw your post about it on HN.. was kinda ridiculous process to have to agree to the CLA, but I was pleasantly surprised by the automation + instantaneous approval... - the person who made said commit :-)
- chrissnell 10y agoI was amazed at what a good sport you were about it. I'm not sure I would have seen it through.
- archgoon 10y agoHow does the submitter propose the automated system should be tweaked? What is the problem that they have identified?
- euyyn 10y agoI think he implicitly argues that it shouldn't be tweaked because it's funny.
- tzs 10y agoIt sounds like they do not look at the content of the submission until the CLA is in place, so they would not necessarily know that it was a 1 byte change.