[PATCH rtems] bsps/imxrt: Add attribution in file headers

[Chris Johns]

On 21/7/21 5:05 pm, Christian MAUDERER wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I don't object to clear rules. At the moment it's a bit of a mix. 

Yes I understand and I think the line you posted in the patch is fine as is, it
just needs to be separate from the license text because it could taint it and we
need to avoid that.

> Some examples
> of what I have found (mainly in PowerPC):
> 
> Above the copyright line:
> 
> https://git.rtems.org/rtems/tree/bsps/powerpc/ss555/start/vectors.S
> https://git.rtems.org/rtems/tree/bsps/powerpc/ss555/start/vectors_init.c
> https://git.rtems.org/rtems/tree/bsps/powerpc/ss555/start/irq.c
> https://git.rtems.org/rtems/tree/bsps/powerpc/include/libcpu/irq.h

Yes there are some legacy comments. I would not touch those. We are more
informed on how we handle these things these days.

> Mixed in the header somewhere:
> 
> https://git.rtems.org/rtems/tree/bsps/powerpc/ss555/start/bspstart.c
> 
> Am 21.07.21 um 07:51 schrieb Sebastian Huber:
>> On 21/07/2021 02:46, Chris Johns wrote:
>>> On 21/7/21 6:47 am, Gedare Bloom wrote:
>>>> This seems fine to me. We don't have any standard way to document this
>>>> kind of attribution. However, we have had individual authors add their
>>>> names below their company's copyright. It might make sense to put the
>>>> sponsorship part beneath the copyright of the sponsored
>>>> company/person?
>>>
>>> Make sense. The copyright block should be limited to just copyrights and sponsor
>>> acknowledgements should in a separate block, maybe after the license block.
>>
>> Yes, I also think it should be outside the license comment block.
>>
>>>
>>>> Not a big deal, but it might help for some kind of
>>>> consistent guidance if we do this more in the future.
>>>
>>> I think we need some guidelines. I do not agree with URL links, email addresses,
>>> phone numbers or street addreses appearing in the source. I also think a sponsor
>>> acknowledgement is never updated or changed even if a company changes name. What
>>> I am not sure about is the areas of the source we allow this to happen in, ie
>>> score ...?
>>
>> We could add some text here:
>>
>> https://docs.rtems.org/branches/master/eng/coding-file-hdr.html
>>
> 
> Without discussing it with Onto: An alternative to attribution in the code could
> be an attribution page in the manuals where we can collect such notes. That
> would avoid scattering them throughout the code. It would also make it easier to
> (for example) attribute to supporters that maybe don't fund coding but other
> activities like infrastructure.

Sorry, collecting in a manual is a step to far and I would not support it. Some
companies have tight marketing requirements and trademarks for placement of
their company details in manuals or printed material and we need to keep well
clear of this. There are sponsors of RTEMS who require nothing is said, ever.

There is a legal aspect to this that I am not sure about yet. What happens if a
company complains about the addition?

Chris