X-Git-Url: http://erislabs.net/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fmaintain.texi;h=6e0c3b1d9db02b472e690a0d736a04649b0ac4ae;hb=07b83208ad50ccf613a769c0c06d145f4f828b40;hp=ee2a6675a07d5e74a2117e053ca25d42662dafe8;hpb=4bda7c3bed8255bdb4c14c1c9ebeb0a0e7b2e4e8;p=gnulib.git

diff --git a/doc/maintain.texi b/doc/maintain.texi
index ee2a6675a..6e0c3b1d9 100644
--- a/doc/maintain.texi
+++ b/doc/maintain.texi
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 @c For double-sided printing, uncomment:
 @c @setchapternewpage odd
 @c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
-@set lastupdate December 5, 2006
+@set lastupdate May 23, 2007
 @c %**end of header
 
 @dircategory GNU organization
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@
 @copying
 Information for maintainers of GNU software, last updated @value{lastupdate}.
 
-Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
-2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright @copyright{} 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
+2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software
+Foundation, Inc.
 
 @quotation
 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies
@@ -103,9 +104,7 @@ currently @code{fencepost.gnu.org}; if you are the maintainer of a GNU
 package, you should have an account there.  Contact
 @email{accounts@@gnu.org} if you don't have one.  (You can also ask
 for accounts for people who help you a large amount in working on the
-package.)  @file{/gd/gnuorg/maintain.tar.gz} is a tar file containing
-all of these files in that directory which are mentioned in this file;
-it is updated daily.
+package.)  
 
 This release of the GNU Maintenance Instructions was last updated
 @value{lastupdate}.
@@ -447,6 +446,24 @@ and list them as the contributors of the code that you copied.  If all
 you did was copy it, not write it, then for copyright purposes you are
 @emph{not} one of the contributors of @emph{this} code.
 
+Especially when code has been released into the public domain, authors
+sometimes fail to write a license statement in each file.  In this
+case, please first be sure that all the authors of the code have
+disclaimed copyright interest.  Then, when copying the new files into
+your project, add a brief note at the beginning of the files recording
+the authors, the public domain status, and anything else relevant.
+
+On the other hand, when merging some public domain code into an
+existing file covered by the GPL (or LGPL or other free software
+license), there is no reason to indicate the pieces which are public
+domain.  The notice saying that the whole file is under the GPL (or
+other license) is legally sufficient.
+
+Using code that is released under a GPL-compatible free license,
+rather than being in the public domain, may require preserving
+copyright notices or other steps.  Of course, you should do what is
+needed.
+
 If you are maintaining an FSF-copyrighted package, please verify we
 have papers for the code you are copying, @emph{before} copying it.
 If you are copying from another FSF-copyrighted package, then we
@@ -463,6 +480,7 @@ doesn't mean it is ok to do without them.  If you cannot get papers
 for the code, you can only use it as an external library
 (@pxref{External Libraries}).
 
+
 @node Copyright Notices
 @section Copyright Notices
 @cindex copyright notices in program files
@@ -1536,22 +1554,12 @@ enforced, or we have a suitable patent license allowing release of free
 software.
 
 Beyond that, sometimes the GNU project takes a strong stand against a
-particular patented technology in order to encourage everyone to reject
-it.
-
-For example, the GIF file format is covered by the LZW software patent
-in the USA.  A patent holder has threatened lawsuits against not only
-developers of software to produce GIFs, but even web sites that
-contain them.
-
-For this reason, you should not include GIFs in the web pages for your
-package, nor in the distribution of the package itself.  It is ok for
-a GNU package to support displaying GIFs which will come into play if
-a user asks it to operate on one.  However, it is essential to provide
-equal or better support for the competing PNG and JPG
-formats---otherwise, the GNU package would be @emph{pressuring} users
-to use GIF format, and that it must not do.  More about our stand on
-GIF is available at @uref{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html}.
+particular patented technology in order to encourage everyone to
+reject it.  For example, until the GIF patents expired in 2006, we
+specified that GNU packages and web pages should not include GIF image
+files, and that equal or better support for other image formats such
+as PNG and JPEG was crucial.  (These other formats remain superior, so
+there is still no particular reason to use GIF's.)
 
 Software patents are not the only matter for ethical concern.  A GNU
 package should not recommend use of any non-free program, nor should it