[RFC] What license should we release DMS software using?

Hackerspace Information Security
#23

I don’t know what the repositories are. There is a list of contributors in the commit list. The contributors listed as contributors on the GitHub page is just for the master branch. I’ve been going through each repository and gathering a list of contributors for each repository. However, you have made my job a bit more complex as now I need to go and check if you have added a license and if we are stepping on the contributors legal toes. I don’t know how all this is suppose to work legally but it seems to me that if they didn’t authorize their code to be placed under a license then their code shouldn’t be placed under that license. In my opinion, it either needs to be removed from our repository or something signed over to DMS before we go slapping a license on it.

#24

so legally if it’s not listed with a license then it’s in the public domain.

#25

Short answer no.

2 Likes
#26

Actually, not quite true. Would a jury side with an org like DMS? Possibly, but the tricky thing about Copyright is that you can file your claim after releasing it or an actionable event occurs. It’s automatically copyrighted once it is in a tangible form (like publishing). However, DMS could be considered members making a “work for hire” as well which would complicate that.
In a collective work, ownership would just be for their part.

#27

@hon1nbo @Draco

I’m glad you guys are posting about copyright law. It helps us document things.

Now, I’d like to direct you guys to the list of repos there:

I’m fairly sure at one point I’ve gone though each project and updated their README.md, licences, and added a .github which included the extra bits. … I’d suggest checking though commit logs to see where these changes have been made.

Meaning that at one sprint I was doing documentation and intergration on a bloody shite load of projects as a clean up maintence and this including a few others that I manage so if there was any changes they would be logged in the repos’ changelog.

Now, That list for Dallas Makerspace which even remotely has any licenses attributed are:

  • Dallas-Makerspace/tracker (forked from my original repo and still Creative Commons)
  • Dallas-Makerspace/Voting (Other Licence - doesn’t at all sound like a licence I support)
  • Dallas-Makerspace/Inventory (Added the Licence file that matched what Andrew LeCody attributed to the project, commit log) This project also was abandoned btw
  • Dallas-Makerspace/ToDo (Other Licence, “repository has been archived by the owner”) Another abandoned project.
  • Dallas-Makerspace/Pinball (MIT - Unattributed copyright and abandoned since 2014) Seems public domain to me.
  • Dallas-Makerspace/DMSSimpleInventory ( GPL 2, abandoned since 2014 )
  • Dallas-Makerspace/makermanager ( BSD [Licenced in 2017](https://github.com/Dallas-Makerspace/makermanager/commit/aa0001535655fc673b040375920febb46f7f4bac originally public domain)
  • Dallas-Makerspace/3dFabOctoUI ( I authored and originally licensed under MIT Licence attributed to Dallas Makerspace).
  • Dallas-Makerspace/ansible-training ( I authored and originally licensed under MIT Licence attributed to Dallas Makerspace).
  • Dallas-Makerspace/presentations ( I authored and originally licensed under BSD Licence attributed to Dallas Makerspace).

Now if you also look over several of the projects listed there without a licence where also authored by myself.

If we’re worried about authors/contriburers calmming copyrights then well I’d be glad to update the repos I originally created for the others try to get ahold of Andrew LeCody since between him and I. We’re about the only two up to this point ever using github or donating publicly though github any software to the space.

I’d also ask that you guys actually use the Github API and look up all the contributors for our org.

Here’s a list of urls for them. Be sure to login to github when you go click on them

[
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Near-Space-Balloon/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Voting/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/ThrICE-Access-Control/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Inventory/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Badges/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Account-Management/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Repeater-Controller/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Dizzy-Fling/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/ToDo/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/DSMART/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/RFID-Interlock/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/Pinball/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/DMSSimpleInventory/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/makermanager/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/3dFabOctoUI/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/weather-station/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/ansible-training/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/calendar/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/dms-discord-bot/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/runbooks-ipam/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/ad-lookup-kiosk/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/dockerlabs/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/PKI/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/solaris-ui/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/jaas/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/applications-as-a-service/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/guide/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/tracker/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/rfid-lock/collaborators",
  "https://api.github.com/repos/Dallas-Makerspace/presentations/collaborators"
]
1 Like
#28

I’d also like to point out that just slapping a gpl licence file inside a project repository does not automatically make it copyright protected.

And I quote GNU

Put a license notice in each file.

Also any file that’s over 10 lines must have a Copyright notice

There is also a separate set of laws for abandoned / orphaned software like several of the ones that I had to pick up on.

1 Like
#29

So question becomes has any of the code in github been under “works made for hire” Thus must explicitly say so in a written contract. Or donated projects to Dallas Makerspace.

I happen to know that the calendar has been a “works made for hire” and thus Code created “for hire” becomes the property of the person that paid.

Works that I have contributed to DMS is another “works made for hire”, I have donated time as a software developer to dallas makerspace not the code. The code is owned by DMS. This is also the model the makerspace as a whole has operated on with our github.

#30

I’m not judging as much as pointing out that we might take a different approach. I will admit it kinda surprised me at first sight.

I think DMS appreciates your efforts in many areas including this one.

Here is a partial list that I have compiled …

Dallas-Makerspace/makermanager4		
	https://github.com/clone1018
	https://github.com/denzuko
	
Dallas-Makerspace/calendar
	https://github.com/denzuko
	https://github.com/unholyknight
	https://github.com/codes4coffee
	https://github.com/clone1018
	https://github.com/ATechAdventurer
	https://github.com/MikeColeGuru
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-iceveda06
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0 License
	https://github.com/iceveda06
	https://github.com/chemturion
	
Dallas-Makerspace/makermanager
	BSD 2-Clause License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-dmurrell33
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0
	https://github.com/dmurrell33
	https://github.com/chemturion
	
Dallas-Makerspace/mematool
	Forked from sim0nx/mematool
	GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Dallas-Makerspace/Inventory
	GNU Affero General Public License v3.0	
	
Dallas-Makerspace/Voting
	Copyright (C) 2011  Andrew LeCody
	GNU Affero General Public License v3
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-bryannewk06
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0 
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-coreyswartz
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0 
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-Pete1281
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0 License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-ptrauejr
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0 License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ruby-koans-chemturion
	RubyKoans is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Version 3.0 
	
Dallas-Makerspace/tracker	
	Forked from denzuko-devops/tracker
	Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
	
Dallas-Makerspace/software-library
	Forked from denzuko-devops/software-library
	which was Forked from portainer/templates
	Portainer: Copyright (c) 2016 Portainer.io
	https://github.com/portainer/portainer/blob/develop/LICENSE

Dallas-Makerspace/Member-Storage-Audit
	Forked from ealott/DMS-Member-Storage-Audit
	https://github.com/denzuko
	https://github.com/ealott
	
Dallas-Makerspace/Queue-Board
	Copyright (c) 2018 Dallas Makerspace
	MIT License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/Python-202
	Copyright (c) 2018, Dallas Makerspace
	BSD 2-Clause License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/heroku-wp
	Forked from xyu/heroku-wp
	Copyright (c) 2014-2017 Xiao Yu
	MIT License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/AWS-Instance
	Copyright (c) 2017, Dallas Makerspace
	BSD 2-Clause License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/3dFabOctoUI
	Copyright (c) 2016 Dallas Makerspace
	MIT License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/compute
	Copyright (c) 2017, Dallas Makerspace
	BSD 2-Clause License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/Android-Class-Template
	Copyright (c) 2017, Dallas Makerspace
	BSD 2-Clause License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/Helpline-Board-PWA
	Copyright (c) 2017, Dallas Makerspace
	BSD 2-Clause License
	
Dallas-Makerspace/presentations
	Copyright (c) 2017, Dallas Makerspace
	BSD 2-Clause License

	Forked from denzuko/dwightaspencer.com
		BSD 2-Clause License
		Copyright (c) 2017, Dwight Spencer All rights reserved.
		
Dallas-Makerspace/ad-lookup-kiosk
	https://github.com/BillGee1
	
Dallas-Makerspace/rfid-lock
	https://github.com/denzuko
	
Dallas-Makerspace/solaris-ui
	https://github.com/denzuko
	
Dallas-Makerspace/applications-as-a-service
	https://github.com/denzuko
	
Dallas-Makerspace/guide
	Forked from serverless/guide
		Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
		The Serverless Team
	
Dallas-Makerspace/PKI
	https://github.com/denzuko

Dallas-Makerspace/dockerlabs
	Appears to originate from https://hackaday.io/page/3579-introduction-to-tigk-stack-for-iot
	Possible license: https://hackaday.io/tos
	
Dallas-Makerspace/jaas
	Forked from alexellis/jaas
		which has MIT License
		Copyright (c) 2016-2017 Alex Ellis

Dallas-Makerspace/runbooks-ipam
	https://github.com/denzuko

Dallas-Makerspace/dms-discord-bot
	https://github.com/aceat64
	
Dallas-Makerspace/weather-station
	Includes adafruit/Adafruit_Python_BMP
		The MIT License (MIT)
		Copyright (c) 2014 Adafruit Industries
	Includes http://sopwith.ismellsmoke.net/?p=104
		Apache License, Version 2.0
		Copyright 2014 Matt Heitzenroder
	Local Contibutors	
		https://github.com/ebony-j
		https://github.com/benemorius
		https://github.com/aceat64
	
Dallas-Makerspace/ansible-training
	Forked from arbabnazar/ansible-training
		The MIT License (MIT)
		Copyright (c) 2015 Arbab Nazar

Dallas-Makerspace/RFID-Interlock
	parts based off of Adafruit_I2C
	https://github.com/adafruit/adafruit-beaglebone-io-python/blob/master/Adafruit_I2C.py
	
	Written by Justin Cooper, Adafruit Industries. BeagleBone IO Python library is released under the MIT License.
	
	Local Contributors
		https://github.com/aceat64
		https://github.com/mikelduke
		https://github.com/scorpioGusTx
2 Likes
#31

I suggest we get a google sheets setup for attribution with rows for each and every repo project and see if we can get this straightened out. And find who we need to contact for what.

1 Like
#32

@denzuko … since you are good at this, can you write something that will go through all our repos and get lists of people that have contributed to any branch not just the master? And some how list them for each repo name? Doing this by hand is tedious and error prone. The problem is that in the commits, it also references things previous to the fork. Those will need to be filtered out so we can know what is done on our repos locally.

#33

I think additionally it will be important to have a connection between GitHub names and Member IDs. I think before someone gets write access to a repo, the GitHub ids needs to be put somewhere to keep track of who is whom. Especially since we are growing our computer/software areas.

2 Likes
#34

Dallas-Makerspace/dockerlabs That’s VCC. So copyright Dallas Makerspace, author Me.

#35

@denzuko … since you are good at this, can you write something

I’m sure you can get it done faster than I could and I trust in your abilities.