taskSavannah Administration - Tasks: task #11225, Submission of ReCaged

 
 

task #11225: Submission of ReCaged

Submitter:  Mats Wahlberg <slinger>
Submitted:  Tue 12 Jul 2011 04:47:06 PM UTC
   
 
Should Start On:  Tue 12 Jul 2011 12:00:00 AM UTC Should be Finished on:  Fri 22 Jul 2011 12:00:00 AM UTC
Category:  Project Approval Priority:  * 5 - Normal
Status:  Done Privacy:  Public
Assigned to:  marioxcc Open/Closed:  Closed
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Fri 19 Aug 2011 06:34:07 PM UTC, comment #7: 

Hi Mats --

Those README files look fine to me.  My only trivial suggestion would be to keep line lengths <= 79 chars :).

I also think it is best to keep the info near the files in the hierarchy, as you are doing.  I would just suggest that in the top-level README, say something suitably generic, such as "licensing of media files is specified in README files in their own directories".  (Not that it's legally required, but it would help people actually find the information.)

Overall, I think you're all set!

Thanks,
karl

Karl Berry <karl>
Site Administrator
Thu 18 Aug 2011 10:44:46 AM UTC, comment #6: 

I have attached two README files, one for six all-permissive media files and another for two GPLv3 media files. (unfortunately I forgot to log in when uploading them, but they still seem to have been uploaded, "by None")

These files does exist in the submitted tarball, but they are located in the same directory as the media files they apply to (for instance, "data/objects/misc/building/README" is the path to the README specifying the all-permissive licensing for the 6 media files located in the same directory).

Would it be necessary to concatenate all of these files into one larger file (placed closer to the top of the hierarchy)? The idea for the current approach is to make sure that when one is looking in a directory containing media files, there will always be a README file in the same directory specifying the licensing information).


I've been concerned with the licensing of these files for while and I'm happy that someone is able to help and answer my questions.

Thanks!

Mats Wahlberg <slinger>
Tue 16 Aug 2011 11:27:40 PM UTC, comment #5: 

hi mats.  i didn't see the current README files, i was looking at the submitted tarball.  can you send me one?

using README instead of (or as well as) in-file licensing is the right thing for media files.

there's no need to repeat the same license text for every file.  simply listing the filenames and the license that applies to those files suffices.

thanks for your careful attention to these legalistic details :).

best,
karl

Karl Berry <karl>
Site Administrator
Mon 15 Aug 2011 09:18:42 PM UTC, comment #4: 

Thanks for the reply.

As you suggested, I will add an all-permissive licensing header to the file "internal.conf" (as well as other text files that are more than just a few lines).

I am however still at a loss when it comes to the licensing of the media files. I have made sure that all source files are under the GPLv3 license (specified in the header of every file) and what I'm looking for is a way of specifying the licensing (all-permissive) of some media files.

As these files are not pure text files, I can not specify the licensing inside them, and thus I resorted to the use of external files named "README" in every directory containing media files.

But based on your reply, the words in these "README" files might not be sufficient? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve these files? Should I renamed them to "COPYING" instead of "README"? Should I explicitly specify the license for each individual file, line by line:

---
<filename1> (c) <name>
 <all-permissive license>
<filename2> (c) <name>
 <all-permissive license>
...
<filename?> (c) <name>
 <all-permissive license>
---

in the "README" files instead of the current approach (which only specifies the licensing once)?


I'd really like to have a proper licensing approach for these media files, not because I've put a lot of work on all of them, but just to have a good starting point when adding more files in the future (which might be the result of much more work).


Thank you for your time!

Mats Wahlberg <slinger>
Mon 15 Aug 2011 06:34:22 PM UTC, comment #3: 

Hi Mats -- You asked about the licensing of some small files.  In general, one-line files like the README's you mention are not an issue, but it can't hurt to include the GPL (as you did).

As for internal.conf, I see no particular reason that is not copyrightable.  I think it should get some kind of notice, either all-permissive or GPL.

As for "special precautions" to avoid confusion, there are no cut-and-dried rules here.  What's important is to state the actual situation as clearly as you can.  For example: Files X, Y, Z are under an all-permissive license, while the rest of the package is under the GNU GPL version 3 or later.  This isn't a legal formula (that's what the wording in the actual files is for), rather an overview intended for human understanding.

Hope this helps.

Karl Berry <karl>
Site Administrator
Sun 17 Jul 2011 03:51:34 PM UTC, comment #2: 

I am thrilled to see the project being accepted. Thank you!

May I ask if you have had the time to look at the mentioned files (such as "data/objects/misc/box/README", "data/teams/Nemesis/cars/Venom/README" and "data/internal.conf" ), which do not contain any copyright header, and found them to be acceptable anyway (due to their short size)?

Or would it be preferable to make all of these files all-permissive? If so, I'd like to know if I should take any special precaution with the README files that specify the licensing for media files, so that the all-permissive license of the README is not confused with the (gpl or compatible) license of the media files?



You have probably already looked at all the files and found them acceptable. If so I apologize for this unnecessary comment and I once again thank you for approving the project.

Mats Wahlberg <slinger>
Sun 17 Jul 2011 03:48:57 AM UTC, comment #1: 

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

2011-07-16 in GNU Savannah task #11225: "Submission of ReCaged".

Hi.

I'm evaluating the project you submitted for approval in GNU Savannah.
You can reach the rest Savannah hackers (Staff) in this list:
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/savannah-hackers-public.

I have approved this project.  You will receive an auto-generated
email containing detailed information about the approval.

Regards and thanks for your interest in free software and your
compliance with our suggestions.

Item status changes:

Assigned to -> marioxcc
Status -> Approved
Open/Closed > Closed
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Mario Castelán Castro <marioxcc>
Tue 12 Jul 2011 04:47:06 PM UTC, original submission:  

A new project has been registered at Savannah
This project account will remain inactive until a site admin approves or discards the registration.


Registration Administration


While this item will be useful to track the registration process, approving or discarding the registration must be done using the specific Group Administration page, accessible only to site administrators, effectively logged as site administrators (superuser):



Registration Details


  • Name: ReCaged
  • System Name:  recaged
  • Type: non-GNU software & documentation
  • License: GNU General Public License v3 or later (All source files are licensed under the GPLv3.


The license of the included media files (currently only 3D models) is specified in a README file located in the same directory as each media file.

All media files are under an "all-permissive" copying license except for two files, Venom.obj and Venom.mtl (found in "data/teams/Nemesis/cars/Venom"), which are under the GPLv3.)




Description:

ReCaged is a Free Software, Futuristic, Racing Simulator.

With the main inspiration taken from the "RollCage" and "Rollcage: Stage II" games, it has been written from scratch with focus on high simulation realism and flexibility. It also supports highly detailed 3D models for both rendering and collision detection.

The project started in 2006 under the name "RollCageX", but the name was changed to "ReCaged" in 2011 to avoid legal issues.


Other Software Required:

"Open Dynamics Engine" (both BSD and GNU LGPL license): http://www.ode.org/

"Simple DirectMedia Layer" (GNU LGPL license): http://www.libsdl.org/


Future releases will most likely use:

"LUA" (MIT license): http://www.lua.org/

"libpng" (zlib/libpng license): http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/libpng.html

"libogg" (BSD license): www.xiph.org/ogg



Of course, it also requires some common OS-level libraries, like:

  • an OpenGL implementation, such as "Mesa" (MIT license): http://www.mesa3d.org/
  • usual C/C++ libraries, such as the "GNU C Library".



Other Comments:

All source files are licensed under the GNU GPLv3 (specified in both their headers and the top-level README, which is under an "all-permissive" license).

All included media files can be found under the directory named "data". They are under an "all-permissive" copying license except for two files, Venom.obj and Venom.mtl, which are under the GPLv3.

The current media files are all 3D models (as a pair of "*.obj" and "*.mtl" files) with the license always specified in a file named "README" included in the same directory as each 3D model. For example, see the following two files:
"data/objects/misc/box/README"
"data/teams/Nemesis/cars/Venom/README"

The use of these small README files is assumed to be sufficient for specifying the license for the non-text files, and will also be used for future media files unless I am informed that there are better alternatives.


Inside the directory named "data" are a few text files which do not have a specified copying license because they are relatively small. This includes the earlier mentioned READMEs which specify licenses for media files and several configuration files, such as:
"data/internal.conf"

I will add an "all-permissive" license in each of these files if I am told it would be necessary.


Tarball URL:

http://savannah.gnu.org/submissions_uploads/recaged_preview.tar.gz


Mats Wahlberg <slinger>

 

(Note: upload size limit is set to 16384 kB, after insertion of the required escape characters.)

Attach Files:
   
   
Comment:
   

Attached Files
file #23829:  README added by None (726B - application/octet-stream - Two README files for licensing of some of the media files (one for 2 GPLv3 files, another for 6 all-permissive files).)
file #23830:  README added by None (341B - application/octet-stream - Two README files for licensing of some of the media files (one for 2 GPLv3 files, another for 6 all-permissive files).)

 

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    Follow 5 latest changes.

    Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
    2011-08-18 None Attached File- Added README, #23829
        Attached File- Added README, #23830
    2011-07-17 marioxcc StatusNone Done
        Assigned toNone marioxcc
        Open/ClosedOpen Closed

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