Path: csiph.com!news.mixmin.net!weretis.net!feeder1.news.weretis.net!news.solani.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn Newsgroups: comp.lang.javascript Subject: [FAQ] Repository on GitHub, license, review cycle Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2015 18:02:08 +0100 Organization: PointedEars Software (PES) Lines: 110 Message-ID: <1578386.5B2p4gcX6K@PointedEars.de> Reply-To: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8Bit X-Trace: solani.org 1450026130 18652 eJwFwYkBwCAIA8CVeBLUcRSa/UfoHbO8eqFYoCjdSMyubfbJleSC3YwZdOfRRCHaLfZ7PNAPFOcQyQ== (13 Dec 2015 17:02:10 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@news.solani.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:02:10 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: KNode/4.14.2 X-User-ID: eJwFwQEBBDEIAzBLz4B2yCnw8y/hknQYhoFE5Mv3I9fc84rFOm6B7Y6dotkRVtKzVnuBodt3/rXXzhCz1Ac8hRWW Cancel-Lock: sha1:KtbiTjV0UqLHp7uAd0bM283Rn5I= X-NNTP-Posting-Host: eJwNycEBwCAIA8CVAEnAcYrC/iPY+x4WlSecoGMwtzUzVhoVVoPU6rphJlL6gcWOky47/y7bDwz3EHI= Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.javascript:29011 Hello all, some of you might have noticed already that, as I indicated recently [0], this weekend I have migrated the code repository for the “FAQ for comp.lang.javascript” (“the FAQ”) from SVN to Git, and published it on GitHub: It is my intention (as explained in the README there), in addition to considering FAQ contributions via the already known channels [1], to review Pull Requests for the “dev” branch of that repository (as it is customary, “master” is the name of the stable branch on which the live version is based). I will continue to post here a summary of the suggestions for the FAQ that I have and receive from you via those channels, and other *direct* channels (like social media), for public discussion. The FAQ will continue to be hosted at my Web site under and it will only be modified there via Git (pull). (This distinguishes my approach from a similar one by others from a few years ago where a FAQ would have been publicly edited via Markdown on GitHub, and not necessarily after consultation of the subscribers of the newsgroup. AIUI, that approach was frowned upon, and the proposal was eventually unsuccessful, also for that reason. [2]) The links in the FAQ to the changelog and the repository browser have been updated accordingly. To make contributions even easier, I intend to publish the FAQ content under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License. AIUI, this change would only codify the existing informal agreement, and it had some support [3]. Why that license? - Although it contains code examples, the FAQ content is more like a book than a piece of software; so a software license is not the appropriate type of license for it. Creative Commons fill that gap by providing free *content* licenses. - It allows contributions to the FAQ content, and contributors have to be named. Historically, it was not clear who contributed what to the “comp.lang.javascript FAQ” which has resulted in the aforementioned agreement. The list of contributors that can already be found at the bottom of the main document of the FAQ, in addition to mentions in the FAQ Notes, and the commit history, provide that information. - Nobody can use the FAQ content for commercial purposes, i.e. primarily to make money from it. Knowledge that has been provided for free in free time should remain free; not only “free” as in “free speech”, but also as in “free beer”. IMHO this is different with software, where modified versions can add significantly to the value of the original software, and there should be a way for the developers making the modifications to be compensated for their efforts. - Anyone can fork the FAQ, but only redistribute the content under the same terms. The FAQ is a community effort and its general availability should not depend on the availability of one individual and their technical infrastructure. Historically, before I launched the “FAQ for comp.lang.javascript” in 2012-12 CE, that was one reason why the original “comp.lang.javascript FAQ” was frequently offline for longer periods of time, and it is the reason why it had not and has not been updated for more than two years (since 2010-10-08). Finally, nobody can limit or take away the freedoms, or lift the non-commercial restriction, through redistribution, that are granted by the license (copyleft). See for details. From now on, I am going to consider your comments *here* on FAQ postings (including this one) for the duration of 7 standard days after each FAQ posting. If there are no substantial objections or counter-proposals within that time, the proposed changes will be implemented afterwards. It is my sincere hope that with the changes proposed here the number of substantial contributions can be increased, and we can have an up-to-date FAQ more quickly. \\//, Live long and prosper PointedEars, ed. ________________ [0] or, e.g., [1] see or, e.g., [2] or e.g., pp. [3] or, e.g., -- FAQ: | SVN: Twitter: @PointedEars2 | ES Matrix: Please do not cc me. / Bitte keine Kopien per E-Mail.