Copyrights, plagiarism and other nonsense

[Jesse Goerz <jgoerz@linuxfreemail.com>]

I'm new to the list and not very educated but I often see the issue of 
copyrights and whether or not "we" can update some unreachable authors 
document.  It seems the LDP does everything it can to cater to these authors 
just so we can get their knowledge posted to the site.  

Bah humbug!

Many of these same authors probably write on their resumes that they are 
published.  Guess what, you provide a service to them by allowing their names 
to be associated with such a famous project (the LDP, that is.)

With the sudden realization by most of the Linux market that documentation is 
really a form of support (and you can make money doing that) it seems many 
authors care more about the fact their "rights" are protected than whether or 
not their documents can be built on at a later date.  In fact, I would say 
some authors do so intentionally.

I have not read the LDP manifesto (nor do I care to), but a couple of things 
must be done if the LDP is to reach it's full potential.

1.  All the documents must be in a single format which is easily convertible 
to many others.  If the author does not wish to write in this format then a 
"maintainer" should be appointed to convert the document from the author's 
chosen format to the LDP format.

2.  If the author is not willing to publish under the LDP's copyright they 
can publish elsewhere.  If necessary, develop several licenses which allow 
differing levels of "protection." 

If the LDP does not protect itself by requiring the authors to use it's 
copyright then it will eventually be a collection of untouchable, out of date 
documents.  If authors feel these copyrights are to loose then perhaps said 
authors should reexamine their intentions for publishing to the LDP and 
consider publishing elsewhere.

Yes.  It is that simple.

Jesse


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