BugZappers

[Adam Williamson]

On Fri, 2009-02-27 at 06:26 +0000, Lalit Dhiri wrote:
> ----------------------------------------
> > From: awilliam at redhat.com
> > To: fedora-test-list at redhat.com
> > Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:37:55 -0800
> > Subject: RE: BugZappers
> >
> .
> >
> > Lalit, can you sign the CLA, please? I agree it's probably a silly
> > requirement for triagers, but it doesn't hurt a bit, honestly. :)
> > --
> 
> I am not prepared to sign a legal document with out getting a good
> understanding of what the implications could be therefore for now I am
> not going to continue with the idea of becoming a Bugzapper.

See, this is why we shouldn't require the CLA for bugzappers. Sigh.

Let me see if I can explain - I'm not a lawyer, but the point of the CLA
is basically to cover Fedora's (and, more to the point, Red Hat's) ass
from any legal issues arising from contributions. i.e., it says that Red
Hat and anyone who uses Fedora has a complete license to use any
contributions you make to Fedora without any restrictions. As I
understand it the point is basically to try and stop anyone submarining
some code into Fedora, waiting a while, and then causing trouble by
trying to assert some rights over it later.

The entire document only talks about contributions - you're not entering
into any kind of agreement which commits you to do, or not do, anything
in particular. It only covers specific contributions you choose to make
to Fedora. So if you never make a contribution, the CLA never means
anything at all.

A contribution is defined as:

"any original work, including any modification or addition to an
existing work, that has been submitted for inclusion in, or
documentation of, any of the products owned or managed by the Project,
where such work originates from that particular Contributor or from some
entity acting on behalf of that Contributor."

by my reading, that basically covers code patches and documentation
work. Nothing you do in the normal course of Bugzapper work would
actually be covered by the CLA, because none of it constitutes a
'contribution'. So it's basically immaterial.

But, if you're still worried, by all means feel free not to sign it. If
that's the case, I will take the matter up with the legal folks to see
if we can remove the requirement for Bugzappers to sign the CLA.
-- 
Adam Williamson
Fedora QA Community Monkey
IRC: adamw | Fedora Talk: adamwill AT fedoraproject DOT org
http://www.happyassassin.net