Add a CLA to VVV

[jeremyfelt]

Acronyms. :)

As we figure out where to go with licensing in #346, we should also think about whether the use of a CLA is appropriate for VVV.

If we do use a CLA, I don't want it to be a difficult process. Contributions should be easy. It's possible that we just need to be explicit about licensing in the contributing document.

[simonwheatley]

Is a CLA a Contributor License Agreement?

[jeremyfelt]

Yes. I'm still wrapping my head around whether it's really necessary. I think once we have a license, most of this kind of goes away.

[cfoellmann]

Have a look at https://www.clahub.com/ - maybe it is an option you like. License and CLA text is still needed, of cause.

[dwlf]

I'd recommend closing this out as "won't fix". It deters people from participating and makes it impossible for many corporate employees to contribute.

In Cantrill's opinion, the mere existence of the CLA is an artifact of an older era of open source. "In the last five years, after the rise of GitHub[6], there's a lot more open source out there and a lot more people contributing to a lot more things. This has all accelerated the cross-pollination of projects, and engineers contributing to projects," he said. "In the face of this, the CLA looks long in the tooth: before anyone can contribute, they have to consult their legal department, who will then redline it."
To that end, Cantrill doesn't believe the items covered by a CLA matter as much anymore to modern developers. "The value added by a CLA is pretty minor," he said. "Much of what happens around these scenarios is arguably fictional, since there's never been a case where they actually happened. And they clearly do slow down one's ability to contribute."

http://www.infoworld.com/t/javascript/joyent-makes-it-easier-contribute-code-nodejs-244152

http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/red-hat-joyent-and-others-break-down-licensing-barriers-244727 is also a good read.

[jeremyfelt]

@lloydde Agreed. I think once we get the licensing in order, being explicit about that in Contributing.md will be enough.

[lock]

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