[ANNOUNCE] hg describe extension (bug fixed)

[Matt Mackall]

On Sat, 2008-10-18 at 22:00 +0200, Hans Meine wrote:
> On Samstag 18 Oktober 2008, Giorgos Keramidas wrote:
> > > *I* didn't strip the copyright; Michael did.  I don't know what that
> > > means in your country.
> >
> > Good to know.  I wasn't implying that you stripped the copyright info.
> > My apologies if what I wrote seemed like that.
> 
> IANAL, but AFAIK the copyright line merely states who wrote the code (and thus 
> who is the one to be asked about license changes), it does not mean that that 
> person claims any rights (i.e. the rights are there, independent of the 
> line).  Thus, removing Michael's name may not be a good idea at all (since it 
> makes future changes of the code's license much harder or legally impossible 
> if I understood that correctly).

I am also not a lawyer, but my understanding is this:

Creations with no copyright statements are covered by copyright by
default in all countries that are signatories to the Bern Convention.
That's basically everywhere.

To put something in the public domain, you must make a public statement
to that effect.

Putting things in the public domain is no shield against liability
claims. For that, it's actuall -better- to have the work under a license
that disclaims all liability as you effectively waive liability claims
to have any right to use a work.

Ergo, best bet is to slap GPL or MIT-style license on things.

-- 
Mathematics is the supreme nostalgia of our time.