I wanted to record a link to a Slashdot thread about credits in free software (sparked by some comments by Hans Reiser on a debian mail list) and make some "observations":

• I'm not real clear on the rules of documentation attribution (I have a particular question about a HOWTO "author" who may be inserting his name as author of some HOWTOs, supplanting the names of others, while having done little or nothing to the document). (Haven't done enough investigation to suggest a real investigation into the matter, and don't want to mention the name for that reason. I think I'll remember it or be able to find it again.)
• I'm not sure of my stance re credits on something like a splash screen — I think authors / programmers deserve appropriate credit, I'm not sure where and how.
• And I have similar questions related to WikiLearn — should I remove the contributors section entirely? Should I leave it there, but delete my name, so that it becomes only a credit for others that contribute.

And, does that unfairly give me too much credit (that I might have an implied credit for everything on the site that isn't otherwise credited)? (Or too little when I create a page, someone else adds one sentence, and their name is the only one that appears in the credits?) Is the whole business of credit inhibiting contributions from others?

The Slashdot thread: Credit and Free Software.

Here is a related May 02, 2003 article by Hans Reiser.

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• () RandyKramer - 08 May 2003
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