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Insuring Contributed Code is Legal?
WanderingGhost asks: "Suppose you start a free software project and have people from all over the world wanting to contribute (hey, that's good eh?) How can you tell if they actually have the right to contribute at all? Contributors may live in different countries and work for different companies, and that means different laws and different contractual agreements. Aside from asking the person (I've found that this doesn't always work), what else would you do? Is there some place where you can find all information about IP laws of different countries (for example Japan, India, China, Russia) just so you can tell what would be the 'default holder of copyright' if a work contract says nothing about IP rights?"
Before allowing commit access to your repository, or accepting patches from someone, have them submit a signed affidavit specifically stating that they will not contribute any code they do not have the rights to. This is likely to result in less developers offering to contribute though as many folks can't be bothered to go through the hassle. Solves both your problems the way I see it (too many developers and legal liabilities.)
IANAL, but I did sleep in my own bed last night. (Tis a joke and a serious statement in one.)
http://m-w.com/dictionary/ensure
If the subtle differences in these almost interchangeable words are correctly explained at Merriam Webster online, then the title is correct.
If nit picking is going to be done, there is something to be said for worrying about correctness while doing it...I completely agree that ensure is a much better fit, but the error was anything but grammatical.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Wrong. The two mean completely different things:
"Insuring Contributed Code Is Legal?" -- Asks the question "What is the legality of purchasing insurance on contributed code?"
"Ensuring Contributed Code Is Legal?" -- Asks how to make sure code that is contributed is legal.
Given the context of the article, only #2 is correct.
I've seen a lot of "common usage" and "evolution of the language" bullcrap about errors like this, and they don't make sense. If the use of a word is stupid and doesn't make sense, then maybe it should be changed, but we have a clear distinction between the two words "insure" and "ensure". Sure, they sound similar, but so do a lot of other words. That doesn't give you an excuse to declare that they are the same in meaning. Any dictionary that tells you differently is wrong.
And yeah, you might find an error or two in anything I say. Sorry. The error in the headline didn't bother me so much because I know someone made a mistake. Mistakes happen, we're all human. It's the fact that someone is actually *DEFENDING* the mistake that bugs the hell out of me.
This is a sig. Deal with it.
No one will help anyways unless it's a huge successful project, at which time you can have the foundation explore all that.
"He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato
I didn't think the word "thou" was involved.
Procrastination -- because good things come to those who wait.