User talk:Sdrubble

Welcome to the LQwiki! Word of advice - it's not really a good idea to cut-and-paste information from project websites without permission from them. It violates the website developer's copyrights. Usually they're alright about it - after all it is exposure, but it shows proper respect to ask first. Plus it's a good excuse to let people know about us. Doesn't really matter if they're licensing the material under a libre license - there isn't a whole lot of Creative Commons (by-sa) compatible material out there, so chances are you're still violating copyright. Just some advice. Have fun! Crazyeddie 03:19, Oct 1, 2004 (EDT)

Got your message on my talk page. While the technical copyright violation thing is a major factor on the restriction on copy-and-pasting, it's not the whole story. Even if the documentation is public domain, it is still considered common courtesy to inform the original creator that you're going to use their work. They might have some new information to add. They might want to backport our modifications to the offical version from time to time. (Of course this requries the licenses to be compatible...) And it might come in handy to have a second-source in case the original site can't maintain or host the offical documentation any more.

It is also good for us. We desperately need experienced (or not experienced) technical writers, and things like this give us an excuse to let some know about what we're doing here.

I know all too well how much of a pain in the ass it is, so if you want, you can just drop me a link to what webpage you want to incorporate, and I'll handle the details. Provided you actually do the donkey work of re-formatting it to the LQwiki's style that is!

IANAL, but I think, even if we get turned down, we can still quote the official documentation under fair use laws. Just remember back to your research paper writing days in high school. Assuming you're not in high school still. And that you didn't just use a cheating service.

You need to keep in mind that copyright law is the only thing that prevents the big corps from making modifications to libre software, releasing it as their own, and hoarding the code from the community. The "IP" laws might be horribly broken, but the hacker community does need them to get our work done.

If I was the Emperor of the United States and the Protector of Mexico, here's what I would do:


 * No more DMCA.
 * No more software or business model patents.
 * Set a limit of 40 years for copyrights.
 * 10 year copyrights on software (or maybe 15 to make up for development time).
 * You have to send a copy of your code to the Library of Congress to get full protection.

Anything you want to add to the list? Crazyeddie 02:04, Oct 23, 2004 (EDT)

After reflection, I noticed that you might not be American. Sorry if I somehow offended because of this. What country are you from? Crazyeddie 02:17, Oct 23, 2004 (EDT)


 * Hi Dan, just now I saw your msg on User talk:Sdrubble on Oct 23. I'm not that a frequent visitor around here . . . :)


 * I'm from Brazil, and relax - no offense taken at all. It's a known fact that the Emperor of the US is the self-appointed Protector of the rest of world, although you don't usually find that statement in such a clear written form.


 * I'd not add anything to your list - as a matter of fact I'd just remove all items. ;) As the future Emperor of Planet Earth I will decree that all intellectual products are received from a Source higher than men's minds, and therefore the concept of IP is an aberration and an attempt at illegal appropriation.


 * Of course, no copyright laws shall remain after that, as well as no profitable software companies and also . . . uh oh, better stop right here.


 * Thnx for your answer, but you shouldn't bother replying to this anarchist any further . . . :))


 * Cheers

Actually, I was giving homage to Emperor Norton I. I think you might like him. Do you still live in Brazil? At any rate, there are few things I'd rather spend time on more than discussing politics with a Brazillian anarchist, provided you wish to. Do you?

While the LQwiki itself isn't appropriate place for such a discussion, we have moral authority over what is done on our own user pages, and their related talk pages. But we do try to keep things PG-13, and FSCK THE SYSTEM doesn't have quite the same impact. So, if you do wish to continue this discussion, we can continue to commute between our talk pages or you can email me at freelancecr@charter.net.

I do have a few things to say in reply, but I'll hold off until I receive your answer. Crazyeddie 18:17, Nov 24, 2004 (EST)