Re: configure.ac, Makefile.am question

[Thomas Dickey]

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008, Bob Friesenhahn wrote:

> GPL is often called "copyleft".  It is copyrighted code which depends on the 
> real copyright holder to defend it, but assures the rights (to the source 
> code) of anyone who receives a binary program based on the work.  If the 
> copyright holders for a work are not clear and legally defensable then the 
> work becomes indefensable and is really no better than if it was placed in 
> the "public domain".  This is why contributors to GPL packages should ensure 
> that the package itself conforms to GPL recommended practices, and that it is 
> clear who wrote (or owns) the code (via ChangeLog, version control system, 
> and/or legal copyright assignment).  In order to deal with the ownership 
> issue, all contributors to FSF projects sign a contract with the FSF so that 
> the FSF becomes the owner of their contributed work.

GPL and FSF projects overlap, but are not the same thing (you missed a
paragraph break, as well as the introduction of the second issue).

--
Thomas E. Dickey
http://invisible-island.net
ftp://invisible-island.net