Re: mention printing of warranty information in GUI programs

[John Darrington]

On Mon, Oct 19, 2020 at 09:38:47AM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
     * John Darrington:
     
     > On Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 10:53:02PM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
     >
     >      > +If your program is interactive, please also print the same 
information
     >      > +as for the @code{--version} option (@pxref{--version}) on program
     >      > +startup, and also provide instructions how to get more 
information
     >      > +about the copying conditions and warranty details.
     >      
     >      The GPL does not allow removing such a message once the program has
     >      it.  So this must be used with caution because it can turn into an
     >      excessive burden, depending how the program is used in the future.
     >
     > This is not a concern.  The copyright holder (that's us)
     
     Do you mean the FSF?

In some cases the copyright of GNU software is held by the FSF.  In (most)
other cases it is held by the respective authors.  Even in the cases where
the author has assigned copyright the FSF, the FSF provides an unlimited
licence (not GPL) to the assigner which allows him/her to change what he/she
wants.
     
     The GNU standards apply to software which does not have a clear
     copyright structure.

That is not correct.  They are guidlines which apply to all GNU programs.

     It's not always clear who the relevant copyright  owners are, and
     which of them should have a say in such changes.

All GNU programs should have a clear statement of both who holds the copyright
and what the licence is.  This is something which we are very strict upon.
I think copyright law is clear:  The copyright holders are the ones who have
unlimited rights over the software.

J'