[Scribus] (no subject)

[Craig Ringer]

On Tue, 2005-06-21 at 17:54 +0530, Vijay Kiran Duvvuri wrote:
> Hi All,

> I?ve been an active listener on the mailing list for a while. I want
> to start contributing to the project. 
>
> I am working at Quark in Enterprise Product development division.
> 
> I?ve 3 yrs exp in Java/J2EE & C++.
> 
> Please let me know how do I get started J

I'm afraid I have to put my personal opinion with that of Craig Bradney
- we do have to be very careful when it comes to accepting help from
folks who work or have worked at commercial DTP outfits. As I'm sure you
know, "Intellectual Property" is being stretched more and more every
day, and it's just not safe to make assumptions about what can get you
in hot water - even if it seems entirely reasonable. A lawsuit doesn't
have to be legally justified to cause major harm to those without a
corporation to back their defence (though none of the core developers
being in the US makes that slightly less of a problem).

My personal view is that's not to say help can't be accepted, only that
it'd be necessary to know _exactly_ where we stood first.

None of this is intended as any reflection on you personally - your
offer of help is much appreciated, and personally I REALLY wish I could
say "jump in, this bit looks like fun...". I just share Craig Bradney's
worries about safety in terms of so-called "IP" (ie trade secret,
patent, and copyright - though the latter should not be a problem)
issues.

I guess, personally, I don't want to give anybody a reason to say
"you're just cloning Quark." It's not true - most development is broadly
driven by user feedback - and I'm sure most Quark engineers would take
one look and agree as loudly as they could ;-) . Nonetheless ... well,
look at SCO. Still not thrown out of court after how many years? Seems
you don't *need* a good argument or legal basis anymore (yes, I know, my
blatant bias is showing), and perhaps a little paranoia is well advised.

--
Craig Ringer