[Libguestfs] [PATCH libnbd] python: Add AIO buffer is_zero method.

[Richard W.M. Jones]

On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 04:16:09PM +0100, Martin Kletzander wrote:
> I know this probably got answered somewhere, but I've never gotten
> any when asking myself.  So let me use this opportunity.
>
> Because I really despise useless processes and duplicated
> information I always hated the way all the "mandatory" file headers.
> As far as I understand it's related to the fact that the file itself
> used to be the only source of information about where the code came
> from.  Nowadays we have more information in git.
>
> The reason all this is happening is to be able to prove that there
> is traceable source of the code, right?  I, personally, do not
> really like when you get couple of lines of repeated information on
> every start of the tool (`bc` should only ever be ran with `-q` for
> any sane person).  In my opinion that is never going to help any
> user.
>
> All of this comes down to whether you prove the above if push comes
> to shove.  GPL talks about the headers and where are all the places
> you *should* put the copyright notices and license information.  But
> I think it comes to the "should" and since it is written "to make
> lawyers more confident" about 30 years ago it might've kept some of
> the reservations from that era.
>
> Finally the question: How much of a problem would it be if we just
> limited the information in file headers to minimum and pointed
> people to git history and central license?
>
> Sorry for making you read all this, but I feel like you're very
> knowledgeable and I struggle with this on a regular basis, so some
> consensus would help me.

Questions of a legal nature should be addressed to and answered by
lawyers, but it's my current understanding that we need the
boilerplate in files to make a cast iron assertion of copyright,
licensing and warranty conditions.  Until a lawyer (from RH Legal in
this case) tells me otherwise, I'm afraid we need to keep the
boilerplate.

Rich.

-- 
Richard Jones, Virtualization Group, Red Hat http://people.redhat.com/~rjones
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